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In a landmark ruling, a federal court has conceded that a Metro Atlanta girl developed Autism from vaccines.
The Polings' News Conference
CDC Response News Conference
She sits on the low concrete wall that borders a flower bed. Oblivious to the dozen cameras pointed in her direction, she carefully picks sticks out of the mulch and lines them up on the ground. Her wavy red hair conceals her face, but when she looks up she smiles at the woman sitting next to her. She looks happy. Just a few feet away Hannah Poling's parents are addressing the cameras, sharing Hannah's story.
It's a story that began on July 19th, 2000, not the day Hannah was born, the day she was taken to the pediatrician's office for a well baby visit. Hannah had missed some vaccines due to ear infections. Her parents, both medical professionals and cautious by nature, had waited to vaccinate until she was healthy.
On this day doctors gave Poling nine vaccines. In a way July 19th was D-day for the Polings, the day their daughter departed their lives.
Terry Poling described her daughter's severe reaction to the vaccines.
"She was screaming, arching her back. She had a high fever. When I spoke to her she would not respond to me," Terry said.
Hannah's parents hoped her condition would improve. It didn't. The little girl who had, until this point, been at the 95th percentile at every doctor's visit, stopped eating, stopped gaining weight, stopped growing.
"I didn't know what had happened to my child after being given these vaccines. I knew something happened, but I didn't know what it was," said Terry.
It is still difficult for Poling to remember the child Hannah had been, a child so advanced for her 18 months that she had been asked to serve as a peer for other toddlers with developmental disabilities. Now, Hannah was a multiple needs child herself.
"Hannah started demonstrating several classic symptoms of Autism, staring at lights, running in circles and looking at fans, and when my husband saw this, his heart just broke. His whole life was going to change," Terry said.
Dr. Jon Poling, a graduate of Georgetown Medical School, had the coveted position as Chief Resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He left his position to go into private practice in order to pay for Hannah's numerous therapies and treatments. Terry Poling, a critical care nurse for 13 years who specialized in neonatal care, was also an attorney. She left her career to care for their daughter full-time.
In 2002, the Polings filed a petition with the vaccine injury compensation fund. The Federal "vaccine court" as it's called, has 5,000 cases before it. Poling's was to be the first, but before the case began, the court conceded that vaccines had caused Hannah to develop Autism.
Hannah has a rare metabolic condition called mitochondrial disorder. In its ruling, the government says the vaccines aggravated the condition.
But Jon Poling said the fact remains, his daughter was healthy and normal until that one visit.
"Some have asked that since Hannah was found to have a mitochondrial disorder, wasn't all this genetic and so why are we here today?" Jon said.
He said testing performed on his wife shows she has it too.
"Look at her, she's not autistic, or sick," Jon said.
CDC officials said Poling's case and her condition make it rare and unique. They say for the vast majority of children vaccinations are safe, are needed, and save millions of lives. Jon Poling says he and his wife's greatest fear is what would happen to Hannah after they're gone. He says the settlement from the government will ensure that she is cared for throughout her life. The amount of the settlement is still being worked out.
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