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...prominent British medical journal The Lancet retracted a widely cited 1998 research paper that suggested that vaccines could cause autism in children. The paper, authored by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, garnered significant attention for its assertion that the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might be unsafe. British vaccination rates subsequently tumbled, and measles cases increased. A number of studies have challenged Wakefield's claims, leading to a reassessment of the original paper that discovered problems with his methodology and conflicts of interest...
More than any other research, it was a study published in the British medical journal the Lancet in 1998 that helped foster the persisting notion that childhood vaccines can cause autism. On Feb. 2, that flawed study, led by gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was officially retracted by the journal's editors--a serious slap and a rare move in the world of medicine. "It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al. are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation," wrote the Lancet editors in a statement issued online...
...Wakefield's methods were the subject of what was almost certainly the longest medical-misconduct inquiry in British history. The General Medical Council, which licenses British doctors, ruled on Jan. 28 that Wakefield and two of his co-investigators had acted dishonestly and irresponsibly and shown "callous disregard" for the 12 children in the study, which suggested that symptoms of autism in eight of the children and gastrointestinal trouble in all 12 were somehow linked with exposure to the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine...
Among other failures, Wakefield neglected to disclose that he was a paid adviser in legal cases involving families suing vaccine manufacturers for harm to their children. It appears that he also handpicked children for his research rather than including patients he encountered at his clinic--another deception cited by the Lancet editors...
Despite assurances from various health bodies that Wakefield's study was seriously flawed, he still has a dedicated following among parents concerned about a rise in autism rates in the U.K. and U.S. - the cause of which has so far baffled health experts. Wakefield is now the Executive Director of the Thoughtful House autism center in Texas, which the Times of London recently claimed receives millions of dollars in donations each year. At the ruling in London, Wakefield was flanked by a small group of supporters, some of whom shouted in protest as the ruling was read out. Speaking after...