In conjunction with Autism Action New York, a parent driven advocacy organization, and Pace Law School Mr. Krakow is helping to direct what we call the "1322 Project." This project is focused on taking a close look at the "vaccine court", a special court established by statute in 1986 for the purpose of giving pharmaceutical companies protection against lawsuits. The statute recognizes that vaccine injuries occur and set up a mechanism to facilitate compensation for those who are injured. In our "1322 Project" we will look at many areas of the court's operation since 1988. We have learned that in the 20 years from 1988 1322 cases were granted entitlement to compensation by the court for "encephalopathy" or "seizure disorder" or both. While the Health Resources Administration, the HHS sub-agency that administers the program for the government maintains records categorizing the injuries for which awards have been granted as "encephalopathy", "seizure disorder" or both, our researchers have observed that in some cases the children granted entitlement had diagnoses of "autism" or an "autism spectrum diisorder" or closely related symptoms.
At the same time that this has occurred the court has issued opinions suggesting that vaccines cannot or do not cause autism. Our project will research case decisions to determine the cases that exist in which children with autism associated with vaccination were granted compensation for their injuries.
Directed by parents of the Westchester, NY chapter of Autism Action New York, including Lou Conte, Lisa Rudley, Lisa Colin, Esq., and John Gilmore the "1322 Project" aims to take a close look at the court to determine if it is functioning effectively as a dispute resolution forum for children who are injured by vaccines. As part of our analysis we will examine whether the practice and procedures of vaccine court provides justice for children with vaccine injuries.
We encourage families who have children who were granted compensation for vaccine injuries to contact us so that we may collect information vital for the successful pursuit of our analysis of the court's operation.
To Read Late-Breaking articles by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and journalist David Kirby that bear on issues being explored by the "1322 Project" click this link to read "Vaccine Court: Autism Debate Continues" in the Huffington Post.