Our Children Are Just Too Important To Leave ANY Research Stone Unturned.
The controversy over a link between childhood vaccination and autism was intensified this week- by a 
finding of the "vaccine court" at the United States Federal Court of Claims.
We need to remember that:
- Vaccine Court is not a regular court of law
- It is not presided over by regular judges
- Findings in a specific case do not necessarily set a precedent
- The court is non-adversarial
Many of us were startled by the finding, especially those who are seeking actively, to understand what we need to do to discover the underlying causes of Autism.
The fear is that the "vaccine court" finding will cause thousands of people to believe that the culprit has finally been identified. Such a belief could also cause those people to shun the vaccination process. Even lawyers for the petitioning family in the recent case conceded that mass vaccination programmes have saved tens of thousands of lives and prevented the outbreak of disastrous epidemics. Nevertheless, more research into the nature of vaccines and their impact on children must be done.
It’s vitally important to keep in mind that while vaccination may indeed be a factor, insofar as we now know, it is not the primary, or underlying cause of the condition. We do know that a number of children have recovered from Autism after a combination of early diagnosis, early and intensive treatment/therapy and dietary discipline. (For more on treatments, see www.autismcanada.org ).
The fact is that ongoing research shows that Autism is a complex condition arising out of a host of possible circumstances, including many many variables.
Society must not become fixated on this one case or distracted by it or lured into thinking that it’s the answer to a problem that has no easy answer.
Autism is a massive and growing problem for us as a society, as can be seen in a comprehensive report published by the Senate of Canada. It’s called "Pay Now or Pay Later".
In order to discover the true causes, governments and private industry must invest far more heavily in research.
Reaction of The Centres For Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.
Reuters News Agency has reported on the response of the CDC and the story can be read here.
A more comprehensive news report by journalist Gardiner Harris can be found here in The New York Times.
