150 Irish parents sue over autism
Friday, April 30, 2004 (19:33:36)

Posted by Sylvia

The Times Online 25/04/2004

Almost 150 sets of Irish parents who claim that their children developed autism after receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, are suing the manufacturers of the jab, writes Dearbhail McDonald.

Lavelle Coleman, a Dublin law firm, has notified five drug companies of its intention to sue on behalf of a “significant group of Irish families”.

The letters, which were received in the past fortnight, state that the parents will claim that the MMR vaccine caused their children to “develop a new form of regressive autism and associated bowel disorder (autistic enterocolitis)”.

The Irish families are likely to have to rely on the controversial research by Andrew Wakefield, purporting to establish a link between the triple jab and autism, a brain condition.

In Ireland, legal notices have been issued to GlaxoSmithKline subsidiaries, Merck Sharp & Dohme and Aventis Pasteur MSD, which were paid by the government to manufacture and supply the MMR vaccine. It is believed the Department of Health, which administers Ireland’s vaccine programme, will be named as a co-defendant in the multi-million-euro action.

The parents are also demanding a full tribunal into vaccine-related injuries in children.

“There is something wrong. There are too many Irish families telling the same story,” said Cecelia Young, whose 14-month-old son Adam lapsed into a coma days after receiving the MMR vaccine.

Last week, Richard Stubbins, managing director of Aventis Pasteur MSD in Britain and Ireland, said the company would “vigorously defend” any action taken in the Irish courts.