Nottingham Evening Post, 12/03/2003

A Nottingham law firm is spearheading a legal fight to prove a link between autism and the commbined MMR (measles,mumps, rubella)  vaccine.

If the High Court case succeeds, it could produce an avalanche of compensation claims. The action has taken more than four years for the company, Freethcartwright, to prepare.

One of the couples who could benefit is Donna and Jean-Pierre Varet, of West Bridgford. They say their autistic son, Junior, nine, was a normal youngster before receiving the triple jab in 1994.

Donna said: "After he had the triple jab, he immediately had a high temperature. He became very quiet, it was almost as if there was nothing there. If it is the MMR vaccine which is to blame, we just want the manufacturers to take responsibility."

The group action is against pharmaceutical companies Aventis Pasteur MSD, Merck and Glaxo-SmithKline.

Paul Balen, of Freethcartwright, said: "This is the first case of its kind involving MMR."

The case is scheduled to start in April 2004.

Donna and Jean-Pierre Varret have learned to live with Junior's temperamental behaviour. They have had to.

"Junior was just a normal young boy. He did everything normal from birth," said Donna. "But we were very concerned about how poorly he became. At first we wondered whether he might have become deaf, and then we thought he might be blind - and we had numerous health visitors round.

"When he was two-and-a-half, he was diagnosed with autism. But we had never heard much about autism in the past, so we had to start reading up about it, to find out more. The paediatrician came out to explain more to us, and explain what Junior was going to be like. It was a very traumatic time for us. Coming to terms with it - knowing what it was going to be like - was a big thing for us to take in."

After last summer's heated debate over possible links between the MMR jab and autism, the couple decided to act.

They joined the 1,000-strong group action - spearheaded by  Freethcartwright - suing the three main manufacturers of the MMR vaccine. Their case - if, indeed, they have one - will take time.

Freethcartwright, along with the Alexander Harris law firm in Manchester and London, must first persuade a High Court judge that there is a link between the vaccine and autism and bowel disease.
The result of the landmark five-month hearing, which begins in April 2004, is not expected until the end of that year.

But the Varets realise this. They know the action could cost them a small fortune - and eventually prove fruitless.

"I only started really thinking that Junior's autism was caused by the MMR vaccination last year, when it was in the news," said Donna.
"A friend pointed it out. Because this is a group action, we have no idea how long it could take. If it is the MMR vaccine which is to blame, we just want the manufacturers to take responsibility. One person against them will do nothing. But for us all to join together must make them sit up and take notice. Each individual family has thought about this themselves before joining in this action. No one has been coerced into it, and now we just have to hope that the High Court agrees there is a link."

The amount of compensation being claimed differs for each family. The Varets hope to be awarded more than £50,000.

But Donna says: "This is not about money. It's for us to know that we haven't given our child autism - and that would mean so much to us."

The couple have Legal Aid up to £7,000, but after that, will have to pay themselves. No matter what the courts eventually decide, the Varets have to keep adapting their lives to cope with Junior's condition.

And Donna bears the scars of the youngster's frail temperament. "As Junior has been growing up, he has regularly had terrible moods, swearing, fighting, shouting, biting," she said. 

"He once bit me so hard, when he was three or four, that he left his two front baby teeth in me. He has a photographic memory, and obsessive behaviour, and cannot do the same routine twice. We could go shopping and I would have to leave it all, because he would be screaming in the middle of the supermarket. Going to a restaurant is impossible because, once he has finished his food, he will be screaming or needing our attention. He looks normal so people don't really understand - even when I tell them he has autism."

Junior's condition has put a strain on their family life. At one point, Jean-Pierre had to give up his job as a security supervisor to look after Junior. He went back to college and now owns Action One Security Ltd, in Spondon.

He said: "I felt odd having to give up work to look after Junior, because I have always worked. But he did need to have some help. To do nothing at all but look after him was hard. He was not like a normal boy who you could go out for a walk with or kick a ball about with in the park. Some of his tantrums were unbelievable.

"The only time I had to learn for my college course was when he was asleep. It was difficult because I did this for two years. Donna was earning more than me as a nightclub manager."

Donna adds: "Now Junior is growing up, he is going to need more and more help, so it looks like it will be my turn to give up work. JP has built his business up to allow us to do this, and we do get some respite care. But Junior does not understand at all. He needs 24-hour attention - you cannot leave him. He will not leave the house without us.

One autism expert today told the Evening Post that he believed Freethcartwright could win next year's court case.

Paul Shattock, of the University of Sunderland's autism research unit, said he had originally ruled out the possibility of any link between the MMR jab and autism. "I thought there could be no link. But our research gradually showed that there might be - and we have identified subtle differences between the type of autism these children suffer from and that which other autistic children have."

Shattock said on March 12: "I do think they might be able to prove their case in the High Court. But, as yet, I don't know if I will be called to give evidence."

The large group action is being supported by the Jabs support group (Justice Awareness Basic Support), which has more than 2,000 members, including many children with autism, and is led by Jackie Fletcher.

She says the Freethcartwright team has an excellent chance of success.
"They are leaders in their field and I am sure very optimistic that their case will be a very persuasive one. In all these cases, doctors have been unable to provide any other reason for the illnesses, other than the MMR jab."

Paul Balen, a senior partner at Freethcartwright, said the case was built on medical evidence, which could not be disclosed before the trial.

He added: "If the High Court judge's decision is favourable, I expect the government will force the companies to set up a compensation scheme. But at the moment, the pharmaceutical companies deny there is any link."

On March 12, a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline said the company could not comment on the specific court case for legal reasons, but added: "[The MMR] has been used widely around the world in more than 90 countries. There is unanimous agreement that it is the best medical intervention against potentially fatal measles, mumps and rubella.
There is also overwhelming evidence that there is no causal link with MMR and autism."

And a spokeswoman for Aventis Pasteur MSD, said: "We would like to emphasise that separate reviews of worldwide scientific literature and epidemiological data by many organisations - such as the World Health Organisation and the Medical Research Council - have shown that there is no evidence to suggest any link between the MMR vaccination and any of the adverse effects alleged by those seeking to bring claims in respect of the vaccination in England and Wales."

A third company was unavailable for comment.

Controversy has been simmering since February, 1998, when a team at London's Royal Free Hospital - led by Dr Andrew Wakefield - suggested that there might be a link between the triple vaccination jab, bowel disorders and autism - a condition which affects social interaction and communication skills.

Since then, the British government has been desperately trying to reassure parents that the jab is safe. Department of Health officials have cited a mass of scientific evidence gathered by the UK's Medical Research Council, the US Institutes of Medicine Safety Review of MMR, and research papers in major medical journals.

The American Academy of Paediatrics put together a panel to examine evidence linking the vaccination with autism. It concluded that the condition was not caused by MMR immunisation. An independent study has also reviewed world evidence of the effects of vaccinations on the immune system.

Health Promotion England is a UK government-based organisation which issues information about the contentious triple vaccination.
It says 500 million doses of MMR have been used in 90 countries since the 1970s.

Jo Yarwood, immunisation manager of Health Promotion England's team, says that parents are faced with conflicting stories about the MMR vaccination. But she said: "There is no doubt that MMR is an effective vaccine with an excellent safety record. Without it, we are in real danger of witnessing a resurgence of the potentially deadly diseases it protects against."

Claims that the vaccine is linked to bowel disease and autism are denied by the Department of Health. A spokesman said: "We strongly recommend that children are protected with MMR and not left at risk."

Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair, became embroiled in the controversy when he refused to say whether his baby son, Leo, had been given the triple jab.