04 Feb 2010 @ 8:47 AM
It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by (Andrew) Wakefield et al. are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation…. Therefore, we fully retract this paper from the published record. -The Editors of The Lancet
The Lancet, a respected British medical journal, have retracted the 1998 study that first suggested autism might be caused by the MMR vaccine, less than a week after an official rebuke to the paper’s lead author, Andrew Wakefield, MBBS, and two co-authors.
The General Medical Council, a panel regulating the medical profession in the UK, earlier rebuked Dr. Andrew Wakefield and two other colleagues who acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” after a two-and-a-half years of investigation of a 1998 study that linked the development of autism to vaccination of the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella).
After the Wakefield study was published, MMR vaccination went down and measles cases rose.
In 2004, 10 out of the 13 authors of the study withdrew their support.
The GMC’s Fitness to Practice panel said that:
- Dr. Wakefield showed a “callous disregard” for suffering of children and abuse of trust as physician as he took the blood samples of children during his child’s birthday party.
- He also failed to disclose that he received money as adviser to the litigation against the MMR vaccine.
But, the debate isn’t over yet since the GMC has not issued any statements regarding vaccines are associated with autism, it only investigated Wakefield’s methods of the study.With this regard, this vaccines-causing-autism issue is still out in the debates arena.
However, a number of studies downplayed the association such as these:
- Lack of Association Between Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination and Autism in Children: A Case-Control Study.
- Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autistic spectrum disorder: report from the New Challenges in Childhood Immunizations Conference convened in Oak Brook, Illinois, June 12-13, 2000.
- MMR vaccine and autism: an update of the scientific evidence.
At the peak of the MMR scare in 2002, there were 1,531 articles about MMR in the U.K. national press; in 1998 there had been just 86.
As far as I know, only Dr. Wakefield’s study is the only study to make an association.
For more info, click here.
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