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Autism battle still awaits a full takeout

By Mark Obbie

Nearly 11 months ago, I prodded the Times to dig more deeply into the autism-and-vaccines controversy -- a health story, but with a major legal angle, as parents seek compensation on claims that common vaccines can cause autism. Back then, it shocked me that the clearest perspective on developments at that time came in an op-ed, rather than through enterprising reporting. I'm still waiting. Now the Times has an even better hook: the rulings yesterday rejecting the parents' claims. Reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr. does a good job of describing the basic five W's (although it's unfortunate that the newspaper paper does not link to the rulings). But this brief story with snippet-quotes from the rulings on the paucity of credible medical evidence on the parents' side deserves a much more thoughtful and detailed followup, giving us a fuller picture of the hearings spanning more than a year. With thousands of claims in the pipeline, and a vocal and angry movement of scared parents, the public needs to know if the court got it right.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on February 13, 2009 (boomark / email).