BMJ (once the British Medical Journal) today published an article, along with a no-holds-barred editorial which states unequivocally that Andrew Wakefield's claims of a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism were nothing more or less than "an elaborate fraud."
By now, most of us are I'm sure familiar with Wakefield's claims, published by The Lancet in 1998. And while The Lancet
retracted the article early last year and expressed regret about having published it, the damage has of course been done, with a variety of interested groups - parents with children on the spectrum, opponents of vaccine manufacturers, garden-variety conspiracy theorists, etc. - having latched on to Wakefield's claims. The result, of course, is rising numbers of measles diagnoses among children, both here in the United States, as well as in the UK.
The above linked editorial minces no words:
Who perpetrated this fraud? There is no doubt that it was Wakefield. Is it possible that he was wrong, but not dishonest: that he was so incompetent that he was unable to fairly describe the project, or to report even one of the 12 children’s cases accurately? No. A great deal of thought and effort must have gone into drafting the paper to achieve the results he wanted: the discrepancies all led in one direction; misreporting was gross. Moreover, although the scale of the GMC’s 217 day hearing precluded additional charges focused directly on the fraud, the panel found him guilty of dishonesty concerning the study’s admissions criteria, its funding by the Legal Aid Board, and his statements about it afterwards.
Oh, but there's more:
Furthermore, Wakefield has been given ample opportunity either to replicate the paper’s findings, or to say he was mistaken. He has declined to do either. He refused to join 10 of his coauthors in retracting the paper’s interpretation in 2004, and has repeatedly denied doing anything wrong at all. Instead, although now disgraced and stripped of his clinical and academic credentials, he continues to push his views.
Wakefield (I refuse to refer to him using the "Dr." honorific) now resides here in the US, where he remains a hero among anti-vaxers. He's authored a book, done numerous media appearances (indeed, Anderson Cooper will air an interview with Wakefield this evening), and spoken at anti-vaccine rallies.
Because of Wakefield's fraud, millions of dollars has been spent to disprove his claims, and reinforce in the public mind trust in vaccines, and some research that might actually have been beneficial to those with autism and their families has been diverted.
Again, from the BMJ editorial:
But perhaps as important as the scare’s effect on infectious disease is the energy, emotion, and money that have been diverted away from efforts to understand the real causes of autism and how to help children and families who live with it.
The likelihood of this making any difference to those who have already bought-in to Wakefield's line of garbage is minimal - the BMJ pieces will be seen as yet another part of the ongoing "conspiracy." But if one parent, or potential parent, who is on the fence about vaccination is swayed it helps not only the health of that individual's child, but the public health as well.
Please read the two BMJ pieces, especially Brian Deer's article that meticulously exposes Wakefield's fraud. It's great work, and deserves as much attention as possible.
(UPDATE: mem from somerville has more, here.)