▁so ▁that ▁it ▁would ▁arrive ▁at ▁a ▁pred et erm ined ▁conclusion . ▁An ▁accomp any ing ▁editor ial ▁in ▁the ▁same ▁journal ▁described ▁W ake field ' s ▁work ▁as ▁an ▁" el abor ate ▁fra ud " ▁that ▁led ▁to ▁lower ▁v acc ination ▁rates , ▁putting ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁children ▁at ▁risk ▁and ▁diver ting ▁energy ▁and ▁money ▁away ▁from ▁research ▁into ▁the ▁true ▁cause ▁of ▁aut ism . ▁ ▁A ▁special ▁court ▁conven ed ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁to ▁review ▁claims ▁under ▁the ▁National ▁V acc ine ▁In j ury ▁Comp ens ation ▁Program ▁ruled ▁on ▁February ▁ 1 2 , ▁ 2 0 0 9 ▁that ▁parents ▁of ▁aut istic ▁children ▁are ▁not ▁entitled ▁to ▁compens ation ▁in ▁their ▁cont ention ▁that ▁certain ▁v acc ines ▁caused ▁aut ism ▁in ▁their ▁children . ▁ ▁V acc ine ▁over load ▁V acc ine ▁over load , ▁a ▁non - med ical ▁term , ▁is ▁the ▁notion ▁that ▁giving ▁many ▁v acc ines ▁at ▁once ▁may ▁over wh elm ▁or ▁weak en ▁a ▁child ' s ▁imm ature ▁imm une ▁system ▁and ▁lead ▁to ▁ad verse ▁effects . ▁Despite ▁scientific ▁evidence ▁that ▁strongly ▁contradict s ▁this ▁idea , ▁some ▁parents ▁of ▁aut istic ▁children ▁believe ▁that ▁v acc ine ▁over load ▁causes ▁aut ism . ▁The ▁resulting ▁controvers y ▁has ▁caused ▁many ▁parents ▁to ▁delay ▁or ▁avoid ▁imm un izing ▁their ▁children . ▁Such ▁parent al ▁mis per ception s ▁are ▁major ▁obst acles ▁towards ▁imm un ization ▁of