Andrew Wakefield's study linking the MMR vaccine to childhood autism was first called unethical; he has now been accused of outright fraud. Image: CC UNICEF Sveridge/Flickr
Dr. Andrew Wakefield emerged from obscurity in 1998 with an article about research that implicated vaccines as a trigger for childhood autism. His research was embraced by the anti-vaccination movement and popularized by former MTV personality Jenny McCarthy. But scientists were skeptical from the start. The article was eventually discredited, Wakefield lost his license, and Wednesday he was labeled a fraud.
Andrew Wakefield’s autism study
Andrew Wakefield’s study on childhood autism appeared in Lancet in 1998. It linked a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to the onset of childhood autism. Additional studies did not replicate Wakefield’s results, and Lancet published a retraction of the article. In February 2010, British medical regulators said Wakefield acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” and with “callous disregard” for the children involved in his autism study. His medical license was revoked in May. The latest blow to Wakefield’s reputation and the anti-vaccine movement was delivered by British journalist Brian Deer, who called the study “an elaborate fraud” in the British Medical Journal.
Vaccination rates plummet, rubella cases skyrocket
When Andrew Wakefield’s study appeared in Lancet, he did not mention that he was getting paid by lawyers representing parents who believed the MMR vaccine hurt their children. His article sent parents into a panic. Vaccination rates in Britain and the U.S. plummeted. There were 56 rubella cases in the U.K in 1998. By 2008, 1,370 were reported, and in 2008 the U.S. had the most rubella cases since 1997. Still, anti-vaccine activists such as Jenny McCarthy said those who discredited Wakefield’s study linking the MMR vaccine to childhood autism were in collusion with pharmaceutical companies alarmed at the drop in MMR vaccination rates.
Wakefield plays pharmaceutical conspiracy card
Wakefield now lives in the U.S. He appeared on CNN Wednesday to defend his research. He claimed that his findings had been replicated in five countries. He went on to accuse the pharmaceutical industry of hiring Deer as a “hit man who has been brought in to take me down.” On Thursday, Deer countered, saying Wakefield had the opportunity to sue him for libel and the case was thrown out. He also said the Department of Homeland Security should review Wakefield’s visa to see how he got into the U.S. “to export his mischief.”
Sources
BMJ caught in highly politicized scientific fraud
The BMJ, in essence, has been caught pulling off what may be the largest scientific fraud ever perpetrated by any medical journal in the history of the world. It grossly misrepresented the facts in falsely accusing Dr Wakefield of fabricating the clinical trial data that led to his landmark study being published in The Lancet in 1998. The innocence of Dr Wakefield has now been established by these newly-released documents.
The British Medical Journal also failed to disclose that its own finances are largely funded by vaccine manufacturers who fill the journal with paid advertising, and that such financial ties may have influenced the journal’s decision to attempt to destroy the reputation of a researcher whose findings threatened the profits of its top sponsors. If you follow the money in this story, in other words, it leads right to the editors of BMJ, whose salaries are effectively financed by vaccine manufacturers. This all-important conflict of interest is almost never discussed in the mainstream media, by the way.
In light of the evidence that has now been made public, clearing Dr Andrew Wakefield of any wrongdoing, Dr Wakefield is publicly demanding that the BMJ issue a full retraction of its Brian Deer article accusing Dr Wakefield of fabricating the data. His statement is entitled, “Uncovered Documents Prove There Was No Fraud in Lancet Case Series” and is included here in its entirety: http://www.vaccinesafetyfirst.com/pdf/BRIAN%20DEE…