Setting a precedent of its kind, a special US court ruling - the Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding - went against three families with autistic children that had blamed measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and other vaccines for their children's neurological disorder.

The families of the autistic children - Michelle Cedillo, Colten Snyder and William Yates Hazlehurst - sought reimbursement charges under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, with a $2.5 billion finances accruing from a 75-cent-per-dose vaccines' tax.

In a 183-page ruling, "special master" George Hastings, a former tax claims expert at the Department of Justice, there is no scientific substantiation of the aforesaid claims.

Having reviewed numerous documents and hearing out long-stretched oral arguments, Hastings said the court came to the conclusion that there has been no noticeable verification of the common belief that vaccines containing a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, can negatively affect the immune systems of infants.

In its response to the court ruling, the American Medical Association noted: "We need ongoing research into the causes of autism, but cannot let unfounded myths keep us from giving our children the proven protection they need against infectious diseases."

Experts are of the opinion that parents quite often link their children's autism symptoms to vaccines because the preliminary diagnosis of autism and related disorders inadvertently coincides with the age of vaccination in children.