SCIENTISTS who advise ministers on the safety of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine - and other matters of public concern - are calling for the Government to give them insurance cover in case they are sued.

Members of Whitehall's numerous "scientific advisory committees" fear that they will be drawn into multi-million-pound court cases brought by families who believe that their children have been damaged by drugs endorsed by the Government. Writs have already been launched against the company that manufactures the MMR vaccine by parents who claim that their children have contracted autism or bowel disease after being injected with it.

The Government maintains that there is no evidence of a link with the triple vaccine, but scientists fear that the courts may well overrule them because they have lower standards of "proving" causal links. The call for protection against legal action, which may result in huge damages being awarded against them, will further undermine public confidence in the Government's £3 million campaign to convince parents that the MMR vaccine is safe.

The Royal Society, the medical body that represents leading scientists, has sent a submission to ministers calling on them to indemnify the scientific advisory committees against legal action. The society's paper states: "The Office of Science and Technology may wish to take advice on the liabilities of members who give advice and take decisions in good faith."

A spokesman for the organisation said: "There is a feeling that we are going more and more the way of America, where lawyers have a field day. We believe it is unfortunate that we are facing a litigation culture like the States. Unless there is protection, you won't get anyone to sit on any of these scientific advisory committees if it means that their homes and families' welfare is in jeopardy.

"No one is asking for an indemnity for doing something in bad faith; it is not for people who do sloppy work. But what has happened in the States is that the courts have sometimes decided that, even though there is no statistical evidence of a link between a vaccine and various diseases, they will nevertheless decide that there is a causal link according to legal standards of proof."

Jackie Fletcher, the founder of Jabs, a support group for children believed to have been damaged by vaccinations, said: "It looks like the scientists want to have it both ways. They want taxpayers to believe what they are saying and yet at the same time, if there is a chance of them being sued, they want the taxpayer to foot the bill."

The Royal Society's submission on legal indemnity comes at a time when the Government is drawing up a new code of practice for the scores of scientific advisory committees that advise ministers, including the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, and the Committee on the Safety of Medicines.

21 January 2001: MMR doctor links 170 cases of autism to vaccine
18 January 2001: MMR jab was launched too early, says health chief
16 January 2001: [Features] Is MMR a shot in the dark?
14 January 2001: Doctors could be sued over single jabs
2 June 1999: Vaccine 'linked' to bowel disease
1 November 1998: Families begin legal fight over MMR vaccine
27 February 1998: Vaccination may trigger disease linked to autism
12 September 1997: Child vaccine link to bowel diseases is dismissed