Who’s harming whom?: Misconduct charges brought against Andrew Wakefield
June 12, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
I have been reading through the numerous news reports about four charges relating to unprofessional conduct that have been brought against Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 research study published in The Lancet suggested a link between the MMR vaccine and the onset of autism and gastrointestinal problems.
Charlie was born in 1997 and we knew that his skills were not developing by 1998. We have constantly been aware of Dr. Wakefield’s name and research all the time that we have sought to help Charlie. In looking back to Charlie’s babyhood, my husband and I can see how his development was different from that of typical babies—for instance, he lacked joint attention and did not develop language, though he babbled—and think that he has always had autism. When Charlie was five and due for another round of vaccines (MMR, DPT, polio), we nonetheless decided that he not take them and sought an exemption. A few weeks ago, we decided to have nine-year-old Charlie receive the three vaccines that he had not taken four years ago, in order to enter his new school district.
Three jabs in the arm and…………nothing happened. By which I mean, no gastrointestinal issues, no fever, no loss of skills, just the same bright-eyed boy.
But back to Dr. Wakefield.
The charges are being brought by the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession in the UK and are, according to an article in the Daily Mail:
that Dr Wakefield published “inadequately founded” research, failed to obtain ethical committee approval, obtained funding “improperly” and subjected children to “unnecessary and invasive investigations.”
The Irish Independent further notes Dr. Wakefield’s research
is said to have done more damage than anything published in a scientific journal in memory. It caused alarm about MMR vaccine, immunisation rates slumped and cases of measles, mumps and rubella soared.
Moreover, in 2004 it was discovered that, at the time that Dr. Wakefield was preparing the research that would be published in The Lancet, the doctor was being paid by lawyers for parents of children thought to have been damaged by the vaccine. The lawyers, the Irish Independent noted, were looking for evidence to use in sueing the vaccine manufacturers.
He received £55,000 (€80,000) [$101,310] from the Legal Aid Board which was paid into his research fund, but which he did not disclose to his co-researchers. He was accused by ‘The Lancet’ of failing to declare a conflict of interest that could have influenced his findings. Editor Richard Horton said if he had known in 1998 about the conflict of interest he would never have published the paper, and he partially withdrew it in 2004. John Reid, Health Secretary at the time, called on the GMC to hold an inquiry.
The Daily Mail noted that, after Dr. Wakefield’s research was published, “uptake of the vaccine for children aged under two [fell] from around 92% in 1995/96 to 82% in 2002/03.” Outbreaks of measles have occurred in areas of the UK where very low amounts of children received the vaccine.
Dr. Wakefield now resides in the US and is a researcher for Thoughtful House in Austin, Texas. If found guilty of the General Medical Council’s charges, Dr. Wakefield could be struck off the registry.
Learning about these charges against Dr. Wakefield—-the statement that an MMR/autism link is “tough to prove” by Dr. Stephen Walker, who is conducting a research study on such a connection—-Charlie’s lack of a reaction to getting the vaccines: It is all making me wonder if the “evidence” in a book like David Kirby’s Evidence of Harm is doing more harm than good.
I have a friend who is about to have a baby girl. She has two NT boys and followed the vaccine schedule reccommended by her pediatrition. Since she has come to know me, my boys and autism, she is worried about her baby girl. She has decided NOT to let her have ANY vaccines until she is 2. She is concerned since she knows that when girls have autism, it is usually in the more severe forms.
I have tried to talk to her about it. Since her boys will be at school and bringing every germ home to their sister. I have also tried to tell her that less girls have autism than boys. Now how many kids will have to die from severe cases of childhood diseases because they have only heard theories without proof?
Never mind Wakers being struck off (My GP was struck off for sexual misconduct) I’ll warrant there are many autism quacks practising under dubios state licentiates, who would never even make the register in the UK.
One also has to wonder about autism practitioners in the US—-