Doctor claiming link between vaccines and autism 'dishonest'

Panel says doctor claiming link between vaccines and autism acted 'dishonestly'

01:32 PM

A British medical council has ruled that a doctor who claimed links between a common children's vaccine and autism acted dishonestly and unethically in his research.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet study suggesting a link between autism and the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations caused vaccination rates to plummet and measles rates to rise, the BBC reports.

It adds that 10 of the study's 13 authors have since renounced its conclusions.

The council, in its two and a half year investigation, did not probe whether Wakefield's findings were right or wrong, focusing instead on his research methods, declaring that he had acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly."

It also criticized his "callous disregard" for children's pain in gathering data and also said he should have disclosed the fact that he had been paid to advise lawyers acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR.

Wakefield called the claims "unfounded and unjust." When the verdict was read, one woman shouted "kangaroo court," The Times of London reports.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... honestly/1

MMR scare doctor 'acted unethically', panel finds

By Nick Triggle
Health reporter, BBC News

Dr Wakefield: "I am extremely disappointed"
The doctor who first suggested a link between MMR vaccinations and autism acted unethically, the official medical regulator has found.

Dr Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles - but the findings were later discredited.

The General Medical Council ruled he had acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in doing his research.

Afterwards, Dr Wakefield said the claims were "unfounded and unjust".

The GMC case did not investigate whether Dr Wakefield's findings were right or wrong, instead it was focused on the methods of research.

During the two-and-a-half years of hearings - one of the longest in the regulator's history - he was accused of a series of charges.

'Callous disregard'

The verdict, read out by panel chairman Dr Surendra Kumar, criticised Dr Wakefield for the invasive tests, such as spinal taps, that were carried out on children and which were found to be against their best clinical interests.

THE WAKEFIELD STORY
MMR is the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine which was introduced in the late 1980s
In 1998 the Lancet published a study, led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, which linked the jab with autism and bowel disease
It has since been discredited and the Lancet has said it should not have run it

A newspaper subsequently made allegations about the way the research was carried out

The GMC launched an investigation, which then led to a series of charges and the two-and-a-half-year hearing

The story that will not go away
The panel said Dr Wakefield, who was working at London's Royal Free Hospital as a gastroenterologist at the time, did not have the ethical approval or relevant qualifications for such tests.

The GMC also took exception with the way he gathered blood samples. Dr Wakefield paid children £5 for the samples at his son's birthday party.

Dr Kumar said he had acted with "callous disregard for the distress and pain the children might suffer".

He also said Dr Wakefield should have disclosed the fact that he had been paid to advise solicitors acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR.

Two of Dr Wakefield's former colleagues at the Royal Free were also ruled to have broken guidelines.

Professor John Walker-Smith and Professor Simon Murch both helped Dr Wakefield carry out the research.

'Kangaroo court'

The panel chairman was heckled by supporters of the doctors during his delivery of the verdicts.

One woman shouted: "These doctors have not failed our children. You are outrageous."

Another person in the public gallery said it was a "kangaroo court".

A small group of supporters also expressed their support for Dr Wakefield and his colleagues outside the GMC's London headquarters.


Dr Wakefield told a conference in 1999 how he paid children for blood samples
Joan Campbell, 51, from Glasgow, who believes the MMR jab caused her son to develop autism, said: "It is atrocious. They were just trying to protect children."

After the hearing, Dr Wakefield, who now lives and works in the US, said: "I am extremely disappointed by the outcome.

"The allegations against me and my colleagues are unfounded and unjust and I invite anyone to examine the contents of these proceedings and come to their own conclusions."

Referring to the parents who had supported him, he added: "I want to reassure them that the science will continue in earnest."

The GMC now has to consider whether Dr Wakefield's behaviour, and that of his colleagues, amounts to serious professional misconduct and then if any sanctions should be imposed, such as striking them off the medical register.

However, a ruling is not expected for some months.

Medical experts said it was now important to move on from the controversy and remember that plenty of research had supported the use of the three-in-one jab.

Dr Shona Hilton, of the Medical Research Council, said: "We need to continue rebuilding trust with parents that MMR vaccination is safe."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8483865.stm

The argument was not so much about the vaccines themselves, but the way they were administered.

The theory (was it proven or not?) was that these vaccinations, given all at once to small children, overwhelmed their systems, and coupled with the fact that there could have been, in a few, a dormant/recessive gene for the potential for autism, which was triggered when the childs immune response was activiated, possibly attacking itself inadvertantly, causing the onset of autism.

Some parents have opted to have these vaccines administered one at a time. Not sure of that success, or if any long term studies were done on this.

January 28, 2010

MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield 'abused his position of trust'

David Rose, Health Correspondent

The doctor who first claimed that the MMR vaccine could cause autism has been found guilty of a series of misconduct charges, that include putting children through painful and unnecessary tests, a disciplinary hearing has ruled today.

Dr Andrew Wakefield showed "a callous disregard" for the suffering of children and "abused his position of trust" as a doctor in carrying out a study which sparked the biggest vaccine scare in a generation and has been blamed for the resurgence of measles in Britain, the General Medical Council (GMC) found.

He was also found to have brought the medical profession "into disrepute" after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son’s birthday party in return for payments of £5 and failed to disclose vital conflicts of interest around his work - which has since been discredited.

Along with two former colleagues who were also involved in the study on 12 children, originally published in the Lancet medical journal in 1998, Dr Wakefield now faces being suspended or struck off the medical register if this verdict is confirmed by GMC later this year.

Related Links
The impact of Dr Wakefield's study on MMR
The 12 children studied by Wakefield
Timeline: the MMR scandal

After a hearing lasting more than two and a half years, a fitness-to-practice panel found the charges against Dr Wakefield, Professors John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch were "sufficient to amount to serious professional misconduct". The hearing was later adjourned and will resume this summer to deliberate a final verdict and possible sanctions.

The GMC also found today that Dr Wakefield "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant" and went against the interests of children in his care in conducting the 1998 study, first suggested that the combined MMR vaccine — recommended for all children to guard against for measles, mumps and rubella — could increase the risk of developing bowel disorders and autism.

The research has since been discredited by subsequent studies involving millions of children, which found no evidence for the link between the triple jab and autism. It has since been retracted by the Lancet, and ten of the original 13 authors disowned the research. But the claims sparked a massive drop in the number of children given the triple jab for measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates have still not fully recovered to levels before the scare.

The GMC found that the study involved carrying out inappropriate tests on at least 10 children, aged between three and ten, which included colonoscopies, urine tests, brain scans and in some cases lumbar punctures — a painful test that involves taking fluid from the spine.

Dr Wakefield, who was not qualified to carry out or authorise the tests, further acted dishonestly and was "misleading and irresponsible" in the way he presented and described the study in the Lancet medical journal, the fitness to practise panel found.

He had received £55,000 to carry out the research on behalf of solicitors acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by MMR, but could not account for how at least half of this money had been spent and did not declare any conflict of interest to the Lancet, according to the fitness to practice panel.

The hearing has sat for 148 days over a two-and-a-half year period. A total of 36 witnesses gave evidence at the hearing, which has reportedly cost more than £1 million. It is the longest running medical misconduct case in the GMC’s 147 year history.

As he delivered the verdicts, Dr Surendra Kumar, the panel’s chairman, was repeatedly heckled by distraught parents who support Dr Wakefield and his former colleagues. One woman shouted: "These doctors have not failed our children. You are outrageous." She called the panel of experts "b******s" and accused the GMC of being a "kangaroo court".

Another shouted: "This is a set-up." Dr Wakefield was not present to hear the verdicts being read out but joined a small crowd of cheering supporters outside the GMC’s headquarters afterwards to make a statement, saying he was dismayed at the panel’s decision.

He told reporters: "I am extremely disappointed by the outcome of today’s proceedings.

"The allegations against me and against my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust — I repeated unfounded and unjust — and I invite anyone to examine the contents of these proceedings and come to their own conclusion." He said on a personal note he was "dismayed" that two of his colleagues had been "dragged through this process".

He went on: "It remains for me to thank the parents whose commitment and loyalty has been extraordinary.

"I want to reassure them that science will continue in earnest." No statement was made by Professors Walker-Smith and Murch. All three doctors deny any wrongdoing.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 006525.ece

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The research has since been discredited by subsequent studies involving millions of children, which found no evidence for the link between the triple jab and autism.

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You do still have to wonder what has caused the increase in autism lately?...Enviromental...etc?

Since this seems to be somewhat genetic, but might also be triggered by outside sources, it would seem that science and the medical field would be doing some heavy research as to what is inducing it so much now.