Lisa Jo Rudy has a post on the “what next question”
On beyond the Vaccine Court: next steps in the vaccine-autism legal process
In it, she quotes from Law.com where they also looked into the question. One of the petitioner’s lawyers is indicating that they may appeal.
I seem to recall there being mention of a possible appeal in the Omnibus Docket, but I can’t find it right now. Basically, the next step would likely be to take the U.S. Court of Appeals. One of the petitioner’s attorneys is indicating that this may happen, with the argument
“I think the special masters were imposing a standard and imposing a burden on this evidence in these cases that was higher than what is called for under the statute.”
Seems a stretch to me. When a Special Master makes a point that it was “not even close”, it doesn’t seem as though it was a matter of changing the standard.
There are many more comments in the decisions making it exceedingly clear that the Special Masters didn’t think these cases had even close to the merit required, but I don’t expect that to stop people from appealing.
After that, or for some people even before the appeal, there is the chance that the cases could be taken to civil court. Similar cases have worked in civil court in the recent past–with cases dismissed before trial even begins based on the lack of evidence. Now, civil court judges will be able to refer to the Special Master’s decisions, which are quite detailed and quite clear.
But, in civil court, will they be able to assemble the “Dream Team” of expert witnesses that the DoJ put together for the Omnibus?
They may not have to.
One of the entries in the dockets for the Cedillo, Snyder and Hazlehurst cases was this:
NOTICE, filed by SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES RESPONDENTS CONSENT TO DISCLOSURE OF
EXPERT REPORTS. (Babcock, Alexis) (Entered: 01/30/2009)
Yep, we may get to read the expert reports. It could help slow down any civil cases.
Much more, it could give new families to autism something to read besides the websites of the orgs promoting vaccine causation.
I can’t wait to read those reports.
Left Brain Right Brain 
Sullivan said “I take it you haven’t surfed over to Prometheus’ site and read about selection bias. Not to mention the statistical problems doing this within the US.”
Did you actually expect him to wander over to a site where he might actually learn something?!
Learning something that goes against his already preconceived notion of what the outcome should be might make his head explode! What are you thinking, Sully!?
No, no… if I mention my kid had seizures when he was two days old, they all go “It was the HepB vaccine”… When I say it was in 1988 before that vaccine existed, they hem, and haw… and then decide it was because I had the audacity to drink milk! No, wait… I ate wheat… no wait, it was because I was actually alive.
Um, stop… that might not make sense.
Though in “crank world” it does.
Really, if you say it is x… they will move the goalpost and claim it is something else.
@Ed: Can you comment on why the PSC was unable to find clear-cut cases of autism onset immediately following vaccination, even though they had a lot of time to come up with the best test cases, and they had thousands of claimants to choose from?
After Cedillo, can you blame anyone if they are skeptical of claims like yours?
Sullivan, I do have an explanation for a lower incidence of autism in the Amish (if there is a lower incidence which I haven’t seen good data for and which I am not claiming). That would be bathing practices. Because the Amish don’t use electricity, they don’t use hot running water for bathing the way non-Amish do. That bathing removes the bacteria that are the subject of my research and which I think can reduce the incidence of autism when mothers have a biofilm of such bacteria while their child is in utero.
I think that (to some extent and in some cases) autism can be seen as a consequence of the loss of exposure to normal bacteria that humans evolved to be exposed to. This is thought to be involved in many degenerative diseases of modern living, diabetes, obesity, allergies, asthma, heart disease, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease. This is called the hygiene hypothesis. The agent(s) for which are still unknown. I think an important one is the bacteria that I am working with.
Just from the fact that there’s an Amish study that finds 6 low functioning autistic children in Lancaster county, who look unremarkable physically (even though they have a genetic syndrome that happens to have been identified) it seems to me that the prevalence of autism among the Amish is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s quite possible autism is rarely diagnosed among the Amish, unless the children come in contact with experts.
My prevalence analysis is here.