June 15th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Before I go too much further I note that the schedule of testimony continues until June 29. Summarizing the testimony takes a lot of effort for me to get it right, as I’m not trying to speed read them. I believe that I will likely finish the series with the end of the Petitioner’s testimony, just to show what evidence people think they have in proving the link between vaccinations in autism. I see no sense trying to show the proof of the negative. When a verdict is reached, I’ll report that as well.
Day 3, June 13
Wednesday kicked off with the testimony of Dr. Karen Hepner, a Ph.D. in molecular biology at UCLA who studied tumor suppression genes and now is working on a project looking at measles virus protection.
Dr. Hepner went over in detail the process for identifying measles virus from RNA. She challenged the results of two other studies that didn’t get the same results because 1) they didn’t consider only ASD children with GI issues, and 2) they used blood rather than gut samples. She defended the Ulhmann study and answered a ton of hypothetical questions about what would change her mind.
Next was Dr. Ronald C. Kennedy, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Texas Tech University Health Science Center. Dr. Kennedy detailed the functions of the immune system. He had presented his information enough times that he was doing it from memory. The immune system has various subsystems, and depending upon which aren’t working, the immunodeficiency can be fatal or treatable with antibiotics. Measles virus can cause immune suppression, as well as malaria and HIV. Transplant rejection drugs, cancer, and severe burns can also cause suppression. Kennedy mentioned that we could possibly test kids for “holes” in their immune system before vaccination, but the tests are very expensive and the chance of a significant hole are usually low. An individual with a properly functioning immune system should clear a measles virus, but a measles infection can suppress the immune system for three to six months. Measles doesn’t immediately kill a cell after reproduction; a cell can keep manufacturing the virus.
In the Cedillo case, the amount of measles in the gut biopsy indicated that the measles from the MMR had amplified and persisted in Michelle.
Cross of Dr. Kennedy began in the afternoon. He was questioned about previous public testimony, where he was an expert witness about Hepatitis B but not for MMR. Kennedy responded that he actually testified in Congress about the immaturity of the neonatal immune system, and that he advocated that Hepatitis B vaccine be optional instead of required for infants in certain situations. Kennedy has only published one paper on MMR but is trying to develop a immune system-complete baboon colony to study the suppressive effects of measles. Kennedy believes that immune suppression is key for measles persistence. The suppression can be caused not just by the measles virus but by another environmental trigger.
Dr. Kennedy mentions that thimerosal as well as mercury, polonium, and other heavy metals could be an environmental trigger, as mentioned in textbooks. Measles is among a genus of virus that can cause neurological disorders, and that may have led to Michelle’s autism. Even if the virus itself did not migrate to the brain, it is possible that the immune and systemic inflammatory responses may cause ASD. Dr. Kennedy held the opinion that MMR could perhaps cause autism in an individual situation, such as persistent measles infection, but he would not state that MMR causes autism.
The respondent then asked Dr. Kennedy a lot of questions covered by Dr. Hepner, and the answers were verified.
Kennedy stated that the National Institutes of Health rejected the causal link between MMR and autism, but they didn’t reject the possibility, and more studies needed to be done.
