M.P. and P.P., in their own right and Best Friends of their Son, C.R.P. v. HHS - MMR, autistic disorder (2017)

M.P. and P.P., parents of minor C.R.P., filed a petition on October 29, 2007, alleging that the MMR vaccine caused his autistic disorder. This case was part of a mini-omnibus proceeding involving 23 cases, all of which agreed to be bound by the lead case, V.J.M. (No. 02-10V).

The public decision does not state the date of C.R.P.'s vaccination, his age at vaccination, or any concurrent vaccines; the January 19, 1999 vaccination details discussed in the attached lead decision belong to V.J.M. The public decision does not describe the specific clinical story of C.R.P. beyond the vaccination and the alleged condition.

The theory of causation relied upon by the petitioners centered on the work of Dr. Theresa Deisher, who proposed that residual human fetal DNA fragments and HERV-K endogenous retrovirus fragments in vaccines manufactured using human fetal cell lines could cause autism through insertional mutagenesis or autoimmunity.

The government's experts, including Drs. M.

Daniele Fallin, Neal Halsey, and Dan Arking, presented evidence and testimony refuting this theory. Chief Special Master Nora Beth Dorsey issued a decision on August 31, 2017, dismissing the petition.

The decision found that Dr. Deisher's "change point" ecological study was methodologically flawed, relying on unreliable data and failing to account for confounders.

The proposed mechanisms of insertional mutagenesis and autoimmunity were also found to be unsupported by sufficient evidence. Specifically, the Special Master noted that Dr.

Deisher could not specify the exact mechanism for insertional mutagenesis, conceded that the hepatitis A vaccine was not a good fit for this theory, and that there was no experimental evidence of DNA integration from vaccines into brain cells. The role of HERV-K was described as merely "observational." The Special Master also noted that an NIH grant application for similar research by Dr.

Deisher had been rejected due to bias and methodological concerns. The petition was dismissed for failure to establish causation under Prong One of the Althen test.

Petitioners' counsel was John F. McHugh.

Respondent's counsel was Ryan Daniel Pyles.