The Ignored Story of Bailey Banks: Injured by the MMR Vaccine

By Yelena Sukhoterina

On June 26, 2002 the family of Bailey Banks filed a petition for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 after a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine caused him to have Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) – an intense swelling in the brain.

The official court document can be downloaded from the following link, and all the sources bellow are quoted from this document.

Bailey, born October 26, 1998, received an MMR vaccination on March 14, 2000 which led to him having a seizure and ADEM, and later caused Pervasive Developmental Delay (PDD).

According to his official medical record, Bailey had normal childhood development before receiving the vaccination and had no health issues. Sixteen days after his vaccination he had a seizure and was taken to the emergency room, where he had an MRI scan and neurological examinations in the next few days. According to his radiologist Dr. Bret Sleight, the MRI showed that his brain was “most consistent with a demyelinating process of immune etiology such as may be seen with ADEM or perhaps post-vaccination.”

A Demyelinating process is a condition that damages the protective shield of the nerves and leads to a variety of neurological problems. A Neurologist Dr. Frank Berenson noticed that Bailey had global developmental delays: speech problems, difficulties interacting, and poor eye contact. He also noted that the child walked “somewhat puppet-like.”

Did an MMR Vaccine Cause Bailey Banks to Have Autism?

Bailey’s doctors seemed to disagree as to how to classify Bailey’s condition. His pediatrician originally called it autism, but later said that the term was used for non-medical people to make it easier to understand, and that he actually diagnosed Bailey with PDD instead. Neurologist Dr. Ivan Lopez stated he could not call it autism because the doctors could “find a specific reason for his condition and this is not just coming up with no reason.”

From his words he also would not call it autism because his condition affected more than one developmental skill area. “Bailey does not have autism because he has a reason for his deficits,” he concluded. He said his opinion had “a reasonable degree of medical certainty.” Another pediatrician said that Bailey did not have actual autism, but a global developmental delay with autistic features.

Dr. John MacDonald stated, “I think he falls into that autistic spectrum pervasive developmental disorder category, and that seems to be fairly consistent,” and added that the majority of people “use these terms somewhat interchangeably.”

“Bailey falls into the large group of children with autism/PDD in which by our current evidence-based medicine we rarely can make a specific diagnosis,” he said.

Did the Vaccine Cause Other Conditions?

Dr. Lopez stated that “ADEM most commonly occurs in 3 to 15 days following vaccinations….The onset may be abrupt with seizures or less explosive with residual behavioral abnormalities, dementia, or motor deficits….Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generally reveals extensive abnormalities of white matter compatible with demyelination.” Bailey had a seizure 16 days after the vaccine and his MRI did show demyelination. It was also stated on record that there have been two previous cases where the Special Master found that the MMR vaccine had caused ADEM: Tufo v. Secretary of HHS, 2001 and Lodge v. Secretary of HHS, 1994.

The court concluded that “the vaccination at issue can cause ADEM, and…it did actually cause the ADEM (intense brain swelling).”

How “Safe” is MMR Vaccine?

The CDC states that about 4 out of 10,000 children will have seizures after the vaccine, according to two studies, and 1 in 40,000 will experience the immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) – a disorder that makes it harder for the body to stop bleeding. It can also cause severe brain swelling, but exact number of occurrence is unknown.

Merck, a pharmaceutical company that makes M-M-R II vaccine, lists a couple of possible side effects of the vaccine, including seizures and changes in behavior, but does not provide the complete list — the doctor has it. The doctor’s adverse reactions list counts more than 50 various symptoms and conditions from simple sore throat, to life-changing and life-threatening including ADEM, atypical measles, and seizures, and states that “death from various, and in some cases unknown, causes has been reported rarely following vaccination with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines; however, a causal relationship has not been established in healthy individuals.”

Since the creation of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, over $3 billion has been paid for childhood vaccine injury compensation.

MMR Vaccine and the Destroyed Documents Potentially Linking It to Autism

U.S. Representative from Florida Bill Posey spoke to the House of Representatives earlier this year asking for an official investigation into statistically-important study findings that were purposefully omitted; evidence was even thrown in the garbage according to Posey. The study by the CDC from 2004 in the journal Pediatrics “examined the possibility of a relationship between [the] mumps, measles, rubella vaccine and autism.”

With so much evidence refuting the prevailing opinion that vaccines are completely safe, is it any wonder that so many parents shudder at the proposed new laws for mandatory vaccination?

This article appeared first at AltHealth Works where you can find more provocative and investigative reporting on health topics that matter to you. The alternative health movement will be mainstream soon! Like on Facebook, follow on Twitter