Research that seemed to reveal an association between vaccines and childhood autism published in 1998 gained notoriety for Wakefield. Wakefield's so-called research has been an anchor for anti-vaccination conspiracy theorists like Jenny McCarthy, whose best known as a raunchy MTV host. The British medical journal that published Wakefield's article later retracted it and after he was stripped of his medical license accusations of fraud soon followed.
Autism studied by Andrew Wakefield
Andrew Wakefield's study on childhood autism appeared in Lancet in 1998. It linked a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to the onset of childhood autism. There’s only one problem though that got Lancet to publish a retraction. Wakefield’s results could not be replicated. In Feb 2010, British medical regulators said Wakefield acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" and with "callous disregard" for the kids involved in his autism study. His medical license was taken away from him. May was when that happened. The study was really “an elaborate fraud” as outlined by British journalist Brian Deer within the British Medical Journal. He is the last person who had something bad to say about Wakefield and the anti-vaccine movement he started.
Less vaccination causing more rubella
Within the study in Lancet, Wakefield left some information out. Evidently parents of children who had been supposedly hurt by the MMR vaccine were paying for his paycheck. Parents began to panic following the article. Vaccination rates in Britain and also the U.S. plummeted. There were rubella cases within the U.K. in 1998. There were 56 that year. There were 1,370 rubella cases by 2008 within the United States That’s the most that has been there since 1997. Still, anti-vaccine activists like Jenny McCarthy said those who discredited Wakefield's study linking the MMR vaccine to childhood autism were in collusion with pharmaceutical companies alarmed at the drop in MMR vaccination rates.
Wakefield says it is a conspiracy
Right now, the U.S. is the home to Wakefield. CNN had him on the show Wednesday. He was expected to show research. He says that five other countries could replicate his data. He also says that there is a conspiracy the pharmaceutical industry cooked up. Deer was hired as a "hit man who has been brought in to take me down." Wakefield tried to sue Deer for libel, Deer pointed out Thursday. This didn’t go very far before the court threw it out. The visa that Wakefield has should be reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security, as outlined by Deer. Wakefield is in the United States “to export his mischief” apparently.
Articles cited
CNN
cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/06/autism.vaccines/index.html?npt=NP1
NPR
npr.org/2011/01/05/132692497/journal-study-linking-vaccine-to-autism-was-fraud
San Francisco Chronicle
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/lshumaker/detail?entry_id=56341
