Despite the disproving of a link between MMR vaccination and autism, MMR is under attack again
It is now well-established that the evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of the view that MMR does not cause autism.
The front page of the Mail on Sunday at the weekend has the headline "FAMILY WIN 18YR FIGHT OVER MMR DAMAGE TO SON" and a strap-line reading "£90,000 pay out is first since concerns over vaccine surfaced".
This is the case of a boy called Robert, who is now 18 and has severe brain damage such that he is unable to talk, stand unaided or feed himself, following a severe convulsion and onset of epilepsy at the age of 13 months. It is impossible not to feel sympathy and admiration for Robert and his family for his condition, their circumstances and their long battle for compensation. In fact I share the view of Robert's mother that £90,000 is not very much given the financial costs involved with a case like this.
The text of the story makes clear in three places that Robert does not have autism, but it implies through repeated reference to the MMR/autism "controversy" that compensation pay-outs may now be forthcoming for those families who claim that MMR caused autism in their child.