Link Between Autism And Vaccines Not Just Bad Science — It Was Outright Fraud

Doctors have been saying for years that the study linking autism to the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine is not good science. Now an investigation reveals it was actually an elaborate fraud.

Every one of the 12 cases upon which Andrew Wakefield built his 1998 study contained factual errors. Some of the children had behavioural symptoms of autism before their MMR shots, and in other cases he shortened the time between the vaccine and the symptoms.

Coming under criticism, Dr Wakefield and others tried to reproduce his results but no one succeeded. In 2004 it was revealed that Dr Wakefield was paid to do the research by a law firm who intended to sue vaccine manufacturers and his co-authors withdrew their names from the study. Last February the Lancet retracted the article.

“All the way through the paper, we see Dr. Wakefield chiseling away at the data, falsifying the medical history of children and essentially concocting a picture, which was the picture he was contracted to find by his lawyers hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers and create a vaccine scare,” said Brian Deer, who wrote the article for the British Medical Journal.

There is a logical link to be made. The onset of autism occurs in most children when they are toddlers, which is when they are scheduled to get their MMR vaccines. So when the media reported about this controversy, it seemed reasonable that they should be better safe than sorry.

However, the number of vaccinated children has followed below the 95% rate needed to prevent a measles outbreak. It is not just in America, where the noted intellectual Jenny McCarthy led the charge against the vaccine, parents all over Europe, North America and even Australia opted their children out of the public health program.

So are we heading back to the days when 4 million American children were infected with measles every year? Probably not. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything you read. Most journalists have the same skill set you do — a keen mind and no medical background.

This doesn’t mean that parents should ignore their instincts to protect their kids. The fault here lies with Dr Wakefield, the sloppy journalists who publicized his research and the public health programs who failed to give people the facts.

Contact the author here: mick@morningquickie.com