Ruling: Vaccination Caused Boy's Death

Jun 05 2007 6:42PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The federal government ruled this week that a vaccine was deadly for a young boy who died three years ago.

In March 2003, 4-month-old Devin was given a Diphtheria tetanus acellular pertussis vaccination. Hours later, his mother, Melinda Simon, said he suffered seizures.

Those seizures continued over the next year and a half and led to financial devastation, 10TV News reported.

"One shot that my son would get in order to stop a seizure is $264 a dose, that's just one dose," Simon said. "We can use three in one day."

Devin died on New Year's Eve 2004. Simon said she then had to prove that the vaccine led to her son's death.

The federal government set up a vaccine inquiry compensation program to address cases like this. Simon filed her case in August 2005 and waited until this month for a ruling.

The Special Master found in Simon's favor, saying, "Ms. Simon has established by a preponderance of the evidence Devin's March 18, 2003 DTaP vaccination was the legal cause of his epilepsy that resulted in Devin's death."

"We need to sit down and take a good look at how these vaccinations are manufactured and find a better way," Simon said.

Simon said she is not against vaccinations, but wants every parent to know there is nothing wrong with waiting.

"You have years before that child needs the vaccine to get to school," Simon said.

She warns parents to pay attention to the doctor's warnings about the risk, no matter how small it may be.

"There's that one in a million chance it's going to happen," Simon said.

Simon has three other children who never showed any side effects from vaccinations, 10TV News reported.