In response to concerns about an alleged link between the whooping cough component of the three-in-one vaccine and the occurrence of brain damage in children, an Expert Medical Group on Whooping Cough Vaccination was established in 1977 by the then Minister for Health "to examine persons who, it was claimed, had been permanently damaged by whooping cough vaccination, to review the medical information available in relation to them and to indicate whether, in its opinion, the damage was attributable to the vaccination."
The group was completely independent of the Department of Health in its operation and in the conclusions it reached. At the outset, it recognised that it would be impossible to prove conclusively in any case a cause and effect relationship between the vaccination and the person's disability. This finding is consistent with later international research undertaken on this issue.
Consequently, the group came to its conclusions on the balance of probability in individual cases. Where there was a reasonable doubt in any case, the group gave the benefit of the doubt to the person concerned.
The group found that in 16 of the 93 cases it examined, there was a reasonable probability that the vaccine was responsible for damage. An ex gratia payment was offered in each of these 16 cases.