WASHINGTON (AP) -- Parents claiming that childhood vaccines cause
autism should not be rewarded by the courts when the scientific
community has already rejected any link, government lawyers argued
Monday on the first day of a hearing in federal court.

Overall, nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court
of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological
problems in their children. Lawyers for the families are presenting
three different theories of how vaccines caused autism. The theory at
issue Monday was whether vaccines containing the preservative
thimerosal caused autism.
Lynn Ricciardella, a Justice Department lawyer, said that theory has
not moved beyond the realm of speculation. She said that the Institute
of Medicine and theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention have
rejected any link between thimerosal and autism.

"There is no scientific debate," Ricciardella said. "The debate is
over."

Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the
first three years of life and affects a person's ability to
communicate and interact with others. Medical experts don't have a
comprehensive understanding of what causes autism, but they do know
there is a strong hereditary component.

Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood
vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single doses.
The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are available only in
limited quantities.

Under a two-decades-old program, individuals claiming injury from a
vaccine must file a petition for "no-fault" compensation with the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims. The secretary of Health and Human Services
replaces the vaccine manufacturer or vaccine administrator to defend
the claim.
Two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Oregon, will serve as test cases
to determine whether thousands of families can be compensated.
Attorneys for the boys will try to show they were happy, healthy and
developing normally -- but, after being exposed to vaccines with
thimerosal, they began to regress.

To win, the attorneys for the two boys, William Mead and Jordan King,
will have to show that it's more likely than not that the vaccine
actually caused the injury, which they described as regressive autism.

Tom Powers, one of the boys' attorneys, acknowledged that the evidence
showing thimerosal led to regressive autism was indirect and
circumstantial. Still, it's clear in the case of the two boys that
they did not show any symptoms of autism until after they had received
all their immunizations.

"These are doctors who are willing to challenge the establishment on
behalf of their patients," Powers said.

The court Web site says more than 12,500 claims have been filed since
creation of the program in 1987, including more than 5,300 autism
cases, and more than $1.7 billion has been paid in claims. It says
there is now more than $2.7 billion in a trust fund supported by an
excise tax on each dose of vaccine covered by the program.