Madison, N.J., February 19, 2008 — Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) announced today that The Honorable Stuart R. Berger of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in Baltimore, Maryland, has granted Wyeth’s motion for summary judgment in the case of Blackwell, et al. v. Sigma Aldrich, Inc., et al — an alleged vaccine injury case claiming that Jamarr Blackwell’s exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines caused him to become autistic. 

Previously, the Court had granted Wyeth’s motion to preclude all five of plaintiffs’ expert witnesses from offering testimony at trial following extensive briefing and a 10-day evidentiary hearing held by the Court last August.

In his December 21, 2007 Memorandum and Order pertaining to Wyeth’s evidentiary motion, Judge Berger found that “it is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community that thimerosal in vaccines does not cause or contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism,” also noting that “it is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community that autism is genetic in origin except in rare instances of prenatal exposures to certain substances at defined periods during pregnancy.”

“This is a significant victory for good science generally,” says Daniel J. Thomasch, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, who served as lead counsel for Wyeth in this matter.  “The Court appropriately found that plaintiff’s  attempt to link autism to childhood vaccines is contrary to generally accepted science.”

About Wyeth
Wyeth is one of the world’s largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies.  It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription medicines that improve the quality of life for people worldwide.  The Company’s major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and Fort Dodge Animal Health.

Source:  Wyeth Press Release

A new study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, confirms previous studies’ claims that there is no verifiable link between the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.  An excerpt from the Reuters India article on the topic:

“This study really supports the view these are safe vaccines,” said David Brown, a researcher at Britain’s Health Protection Agency who worked on the study. “The evidence is now so solid there really isn’t a need for further studies here.”

The vaccine/autism debate is one of the most controversial topics in the autism community, often-times causing a divide.  There are those who are certain that vaccines can cause autism and there are those who are equally certain that it doesn’t. 

Read the entire story at Reuters India.
 

Babies Excrete Vaccine-mercury Quicker Than Originally Thought, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (2008-02-04) — New research in Pediatrics offers another reason to rethink blaming the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late ’90s. Infants’ bodies expel the thimerosal mercury much faster than originally thought — thereby leaving little chance for a progressive building up of the toxic metal. … > read full article