veist
05-25-2010, 05:27 PM
By JEANNE WHALEN
London
A U.K. medical regulator revoked the license of the doctor who first suggested a link between vaccines and autism and spurred a long-running, heated debate over vaccine safety.
Ending a nearly three-year hearing, Britain's General Medical Council found Andrew Wakefield guilty of "serious professional misconduct" in the way he carried out his research in the late 1990s. The council struck his name from the U.K.'s medical register.
The same body had concluded in January that Dr. Wakefield's research was flawed, saying he had presented his work in an "irresponsible and dishonest" way and shown "callous disregard" for the children in his study.
Shortly after that January ruling, the British medical journal that first published Dr. Wakefield's study, the Lancet, retracted it. His central claim—that there could be a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine—has largely been discredited.
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autism
European Pressphoto Agency
Andrew Wakefield
autism
autism
Dr. Wakefield couldn't immediately be reached to comment Monday. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. Monday, he said he would appeal the General Medical Council's decision. "Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the government from exposure on the MMR vaccine scandal," Dr. Wakefield said, according the BBC.
Dr. Wakefield's 1998 study of 12 children triggered worry among parents world-wide that the MMR, vaccine caused autism. Many decided not to immunize their children, leading to outbreaks of measles in some Western countries. As many as 2.1% of children in the U.S. weren't immunized with the MMR vaccine in 2000, up from 0.77% in 1995, according to a 2008 study published in Pediatrics.
A 2004 statistical review of existing epidemiological studies by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, concluded that there was no causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Some autism activist groups, however, continue to advocate against vaccinations for children, despite the lack of scientific evidence.
In an eight-page decision released Monday, the GMC found Dr. Wakefield guilty of numerous cases of misconduct in his research, including taking blood samples from children during a birthday party without approval from the necessary ethics committee, and paying them the equivalent of $7.25 as a reward and improperly managing and accounting for funds he received to carry out his research. The report said he treated the children in his research unethically by causing them to undergo procedures such as lumbar punctures that weren't clinically necessary; and that he failed to disclose conflicts of interest to the Lancet, including that he received research funding from a lawyer representing parents who believed the MMR shot had harmed their children.
In the 1998 paper, Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues described 12 "previously normal" children who had developed gastrointestinal problems and developmental disorders including autism. The paper concluded that "in most cases, onset of symptoms was after measles, mumps, and rubella immunization. Further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to this vaccine."
Write to Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264513643960110.html?mod=fox_australian
About damn time.
London
A U.K. medical regulator revoked the license of the doctor who first suggested a link between vaccines and autism and spurred a long-running, heated debate over vaccine safety.
Ending a nearly three-year hearing, Britain's General Medical Council found Andrew Wakefield guilty of "serious professional misconduct" in the way he carried out his research in the late 1990s. The council struck his name from the U.K.'s medical register.
The same body had concluded in January that Dr. Wakefield's research was flawed, saying he had presented his work in an "irresponsible and dishonest" way and shown "callous disregard" for the children in his study.
Shortly after that January ruling, the British medical journal that first published Dr. Wakefield's study, the Lancet, retracted it. His central claim—that there could be a link between autism and the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine—has largely been discredited.
View Full Image
autism
European Pressphoto Agency
Andrew Wakefield
autism
autism
Dr. Wakefield couldn't immediately be reached to comment Monday. In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. Monday, he said he would appeal the General Medical Council's decision. "Efforts to discredit and silence me through the GMC process have provided a screen to shield the government from exposure on the MMR vaccine scandal," Dr. Wakefield said, according the BBC.
Dr. Wakefield's 1998 study of 12 children triggered worry among parents world-wide that the MMR, vaccine caused autism. Many decided not to immunize their children, leading to outbreaks of measles in some Western countries. As many as 2.1% of children in the U.S. weren't immunized with the MMR vaccine in 2000, up from 0.77% in 1995, according to a 2008 study published in Pediatrics.
A 2004 statistical review of existing epidemiological studies by the U.S. Institute of Medicine, concluded that there was no causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Some autism activist groups, however, continue to advocate against vaccinations for children, despite the lack of scientific evidence.
In an eight-page decision released Monday, the GMC found Dr. Wakefield guilty of numerous cases of misconduct in his research, including taking blood samples from children during a birthday party without approval from the necessary ethics committee, and paying them the equivalent of $7.25 as a reward and improperly managing and accounting for funds he received to carry out his research. The report said he treated the children in his research unethically by causing them to undergo procedures such as lumbar punctures that weren't clinically necessary; and that he failed to disclose conflicts of interest to the Lancet, including that he received research funding from a lawyer representing parents who believed the MMR shot had harmed their children.
In the 1998 paper, Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues described 12 "previously normal" children who had developed gastrointestinal problems and developmental disorders including autism. The paper concluded that "in most cases, onset of symptoms was after measles, mumps, and rubella immunization. Further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to this vaccine."
Write to Jeanne Whalen at jeanne.whalen@wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704113504575264513643960110.html?mod=fox_australian
About damn time.