MMR vaccines

For more than 10 years I worked harder, worried more and suffered more stress over one case than I have in a whole lifetime in the law. I was part of the team trying to help the families of hundreds of children to bring a lawsuit in the UK. The cases represented a huge challenge to all of us who worked on them, but despite all our efforts, funding from the Legal Services Commision was withdrawn in 2003. The knock on effect was that the office we worked from was closed and most of the MMR team (myself included) lost our jobs. Despite what has been said in some quarters this was not an "anti MMR" or an "anti Vaccine" effort. We were lawyers working on a case, trying to help children who became severely damaged after receiving the vaccine. It was our job to find out if there was a provable link between the vaccine and the injury, using a team of independent experts and a programme of tests and investigations devised by them.

Over the years I have never ceased to be amazed by the strength and determination the parents have shown in both coping with their children's disabilities and tirelessly trying to find out what was the cause.

Now, with the legal cases effectively at an end, the parents are still pressing on with their enquiries because, as many have said to me, it is important to get to the truth. Despite the withdrawal of funding, some experts continue to work on the cases, and I have continued to help, pro bono.


Despite the huge demand on our time, the MMR cases have only spawned one article. Click the button to read it.