With a high prevalence of autism in Oregon many parents are desperate to find a cause and a cure. While the science has been unable to find either many other people and companies are attempting to find out what is going on behind the development of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder. One such person has been Andrew Wakefield.
Wakefield is a British-born, Canadian-trained physician who has done a number of studies on the alleged link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR). Wakefield was the lead author of a 1998 study, published in The Lancet, which sparked a large amount of media coverage.
This study claimed to have found an associate between finding the measles virus in the intestinal tract of children with autism following the MMR vaccine. The study was small, with only 12 children, and the conclusions did not specifically suggest a link. This is where the media coverage came in and raised an alarm and scared many parents out of vaccinating their children.
This original study sparked much in the way of follow up research leading up to a recent study which also found no link between the MMR, measles virus, and autism. Since the studies appearance in The Lancet 10 of the 13 authors renounced the study and The Lancet has said that the study should not have been published. The original study also ended up sparking many accusations of Wakefield and led to an investigation for ethics violations.
These claims included accusations that Wakefield paid children at his child’s birthday party to participate in the study and that he faked some of the data in the original paper. Another conflict also came to the surface when the investigative journalist Brian Deer looked into Wakefield. Deer found that Wakefield had applied for a patent on an alternative MMR vaccine and that Wakefield was being paid specifically to support the MMR and autism link. These last two findings are huge conflicts of interest and were all taken into consideration by the General Medical Council in the investigation.
This investigation recently culminated yesterday, January 28, 2010, with a ruling by the General Medical Council in the U.K. which said that Wakefield acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” during his research. The Council also said that Wakefield had behaved with “callous disregard for the distress and pain the children might suffer.” The sanctions that will result from these findings are still forthcoming and should be resolved in the next few months.
Studies like Wakefield’s lead parents who are frantically searching for a cause and a cure for autism much distress. Wakefield’s study was held up by the anti-vaccination movement as proof that vaccination cause’s autism, which the research has shown is very much so not true. Despite the condemnation by the Council and the overturning of his findings Wakefield has not let up and still is respected by groups like Age of Autism which parrot the claim laid down in The Lancet study.
Dr. Steven Novella of the Science-Based Medicine blog has an excellent website detailing the various studies on the autism-vaccine relationship.
Comments
Wakefield's study published in the highly regarded publication the Lancet had to do with gut problems in children with autism, not the MMR. As I understand it, the measles virus were found in these children's intestines. All of the children had been vaccinated with the MMR manufactured by Glaxo. The reporter who takes an enormous amount of credit (and money) for "exposing" Wakefield works for a newspaper that is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch's son runs the paper, Murdoch's son also serves on the Board of Glaxo.
In February 2006 the Telegraph in UK headlines declared "Secret Report Reveals 18 Deaths Following Vaccinations"
Eighteen babies and toddlers have died following childhood vaccinations in just four years, a secret Government report reveals.
Two years prior to the release of the Lancet paper.
The findings of the GMC contained not one word of relevance to the huge numbers of autistic adolescents and older who are now in residential care. I worked with parents in 1983 to open the third such establishment in the UK caring for 39 school leavers today just a quarter of a century later there are hundreds of such establishments.
Wakefield sought to find commonalities in autism sufferers the GMC has pilloried him for breach of 'protocols'! I hope they are proud of their work that inevitably will come to haunt them.
Tony Bateson, Oxford, UK
In 2006, the Daily Mail published the comments by Dr. Peter Fletcher, former Chief Scientific Officer in the UK concerning the MMR.
"[Fletcher] said he has seen a 'steady accumulation of evidence' from scientists worldwide that the measles, mumps and rubella jab is causing brain damage in certain children.
"But he added: 'There are very powerful people in positions of great authority in Britain and elsewhere who have staked their reputations and careers on the safety of MMR and they are willing to do almost anything to protect themselves.'
" 'It is the steady accumulation of evidence, from a number of respected universities, teaching hospitals and laboratories around the world, that matters here. There's far too much to ignore. ... authorities are, it seems, more than happy to do so.' "
The GMC decision proves that 'very powerful people' are in control.
Anne Dachel
Age of Autism
Halley, thanks for that accurate summary. Not all parents of autistic children are conspiracy theorists. Let's not forget that Wakefield was widely quoted in the UK press as "insisting" on an investigation. He got what he asked for, and he got what he deserved.
@Anne McElroy Dachel - Do you have examples of the research linking the MMR vaccine with brain damage? Everything I have seen published in peer reviewed journals has shown no significant correlation between the MMR vaccine and brain damage. I would be interested in the publications that you have seen supporting this claim. A claim alone does little to support your position, the scientific evidence would offer better support.
@ Tony Bateson - I understand how hard it would be to have a child with autism or to work with autistic people regularly. The findings of Wakefield are of importance because of the link that was drawn because of these finding between autism and the MMR. The GMC's findings, the author's withdrawal of support of the Lancet research and the Lancet removing support for the research is significant because the time and effort being spent on research into a claim that was found dishonestly has caused much harm in a search for a real cause for autism. In addition this finding of dishonesty casts doubt upon his other research, which has also been largely in the same field. It does not mean that his other research is bunk, only that it needs to be closely evaluated before acceptance. I also worry about the family members of people with autism that have seen this illusory correlation and have tried 'cures' that do not work, in my opinion this should be a large concern as well.
@ benmyson - Where can I find this report? Beyond that, a correlation between the death of 18 children (which is indeed a horrible thing in any case) and being vaccinated is just that, a correlation. In this instance I am more inclined to believe that it is an illusory correlation and that these deaths were not because of the vaccine. It seems more likely that the deaths were due to any number of other factors apart from the vaccine. I would need to see the death report on cause of death before I believed that it was due to a vaccine. People die following various things often, it could be said that many people die following a rainy day but it would still be fallacious to claim that rainy days cause these deaths.
@ autism news beat - Thanks for the support, It is greatly appreciated especially on a topic that tends to get misconstrued because of the emotions involved. Also, I agree that the ruling was just. Especially because our knowledge of medicine and science in general comes from our scientists and we need to know that they are being honest in their research.
It is always good to check all perspectives before reaching a conclusion. Go to the web's "Healing News Network" for other aspects of this Lancet retraction, and what it means.
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