Wakefield didn't cause the MMR panic on his own

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Wakefield didn't cause the MMR panic on his own

By n O'Neill Society Last updated: January 21st, 2011

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Wakefield and his wife, Carmel (Photo: AFP/GETTY)

What could be crazier than believing that the MMR vaccine causes autism? Believing that Dr Wakefield was singlehandedly responsible for the anti-MMR debacle of the past 12 years. As the British Medical Journal today publishes the final instalment of Deer's epic on the MMR affair, which has described Wakefield's promotion of the MMR-autism theory as an "elaborate fraud", the public is left with the distinct impression that one man and a handful of his doctor friends managed to hoodwink the media and the masses with some warped theories. But this imbues Wakefield with way too much power and overlooks why much of British society – particularly the professional middle classes – was so receptive to his hocus pocus.

Witch-hunting Wakefield has taken the place of seriously analysing and explaining why his 1998 Lancet paper managed to exercise such a powerful grip on public consciousness. With every pro-science, apparently enlightened journalist in America and Britain queuing up to whack Wakefield, little space is given to exploring the social and political factors that amplified his unfounded fears about vaccination. In a different era, Wakefield's paper might only have raised eyebrows amongst the medical elite before eventually being consigned to the dustbin of Mad, Unproven Theories. But in the febrile climate of a fin-de-siècle Britain suffering from PMT (pre-millennial tensions), it impacted across society and was latched on to by conspiracy-minded hacks and activists as evidence of the political and medical authorities' disdain for the little people.

A public panic is never generated by one man alone, no matter how elaborate his "fraud". Many factors, beyond Wakefield's designs, contributed to the anti-MMR madness. There was the weakened state of the medical elite, battered by the Bristol and Alder Hey scandals, which felt incapable and/or unwilling to assert its authority over Wakefield's theories. There was the impact of the anti-GM and other panics stoked by greens in the 1990s, which increased public suspicion of "weird science" and man's intervention into nature, extending even to vaccination programmes. And there was media cynicism, the media's desperate search for an anti-government hero whom they could hold up as a beautiful, principled contrast to the dark, ugly forces that govern our lives. Thus did respectable publications get all hot under the collar over Wakefield, with one describing him as a "handsome, glossy-haired hero".

Today's media assaults on Wakefield at best ignore the specific circumstances in which his theories were able to spread, and at worst represent a cynical attempt by some of those who failed to challenge his theories in the late 1990s to now cover their tracks. Hating Wakefield is the flipside of the mad media love for Wakefield in the 1990s. Where those journalists who fell for Wakefield's charms tried to turn him into a symbol of Good against corrupt authority, today's enlightened hacks turn him into a symbol of Evil who apparently set science back 10 years and brainwashed the otherwise perfectly rational middle classes. It's a nice story. And it will allow anti-Wakefield journalists to feel puffed-up with science-tinged righteousness. But it will do nothing to challenge the political cynicism and suspicion of man's endeavours that nurtured the MMR panic, and which still exist in different arenas today.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100073032/andrew-wakefield-didnt-cause-the-mmr-panic-on-his-own/

> >> >> > I don't suppose I'll ever be able to decide who is right, who is lying > > in this case. It can't be both, eh?> > T.> > http://www.naturalnews.com/031116_Dr__Wakefield_British_Medical_Journal.html> > (NaturalNews) New documents have emerged that clear Dr > > Wakefield of the allegations of fraud recently made by the British > > Medical Journal and its reporter Deer. This new evidence > > "completely negates the allegations that I committed scientific> > fraud. Deer and Dr. Godlee of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) > > knew or should> > have known about the facts set out below before publishing their false > > allegations," says Dr Wakefield (see sources, below).> >> > Newly-revealed documents show that on December 20th, 1996, a meeting > > of /The Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group/ based at the /Royal > > Free Hospital Medical School/ featured a presentation by Professor > > - on seven of the children > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/children.html> who would later become part > > of the group of patients Dr Wakefield wrote about in his 1998 /The > > Lancet <http://www.naturalnews.com/The_Lancet.html>/ paper (which was > > later retracted by The Lancet).> >> > Remember, Dr Wakefield has been accused of completely fabricating his > > findings <http://www.naturalnews.com/findings.html> about these same > > children in his 1998 paper <http://www.naturalnews.com/paper.html>, > > but these documents reveal that *fourteen months before Dr Wakefield's > > paper was published, two other researchers -- Professor - > > and Dr Amar Dhillon -- independently documented the same problems in > > these children, including symptoms of autism > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/autism.html>.*> >> > Thus, Dr Wakefield could not have "fabricated" these findings as > > alleged by the British Medical Journal > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/British_Medical_Journal.html>, which now > > finds itself in the position of needing to issue a retraction, or it > > must now expand its accusations of fraud > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/fraud.html> to include Professor > > - and Dr Dhillon... essentially, the BMJ must now insist > > that a "conspiracy of fraud" existed among at least these three > > researchers, and possibly more, in order to back up its allegation > > that Dr Wakefield's study results were fabricated.> >> >> > The smoking-gun evidence <http://www.naturalnews.com/evidence.html>> >> > Professor -'s 1996 presentation at the Royal Free Hospital > > Medical School was entitled, *"Entero-colitis and Disintegrative > > Disorder Following MMR - A Review of the First Seven Cases."*> >> > His presentation notes began with the following text: ""I wish today, > > to present some preliminary details concerning seven children, all > > boys, who appear to have entero-colitis and disintegrative disorder > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/disorder.html>, probably autism, following > > MMR. I shall now briefly present> > their case history <http://www.naturalnews.com/history.html> [sic]."> >> > He then went on to detail the clinical history of these seven children > > as derived from his medical team as well as senior pathologist Dr Amar > > Dhillon. Importantly, Dr Wakefield was not part of this > > investigation. This means that Dr Wakefield's findings were > > *independently replicated* by another medical research > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/research.html> team.> >> > The British Medical Journal's accusations against Dr Wakefield -- that > > he fabricated his findings -- are therefore false. The mainstream > > media accusation that Dr Wakefield's findings have "never been > > replicated" is also blatantly false.> >> > Here are the notes on the seven children, as presented in 1996, *14 > > months BEFORE Dr Wakefield published his landmark paper in The Lancet*:> >> > *Child 1. Immediate reaction to MMR with fever > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/fever.html> at 1 [corrected, illegible]*> > Rapid deterioration in behaviour - autism> > Histology active chronic inflammation > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/inflammation.html> in caecum> > Treated Asacol> > INDETERMINATE COLITIS** (1)> >> > *Child 2. MMR at 15 months - head banging 2 weeks later.*> > Hyperactive from 18 months.> > Endoscopy - aphthoid ulcer at hepatic flexure> > Caecum: lymphoid nodular hyperplasia with erythematous rim and pale > > swollen> > core.> > Histology, Ileum mild inflammation, colon > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/colon.html> moderate inflammation> > Acute and chronic inflammation.> > Treated CT3211 [a dietary treatment]> > INDETERMINATE COLITIS** ? CROHN'S DISEASE> >> > *Child 3. ? dysmorphism - chromosomes and normal development*> > MMR at 5 months [sic]> > Measles at 2.5 years* - 1 month later change in behavior> > Hyperactive with food> > Colonoscopy - granular rectum, normal colon and lymphoid nodular> > hyperplasia.> > Histopathology: lymphoid nodular hyperplasia.> > Increased eosinophils 5/5 mild increase in inflammatory cells (Dhillon)> > Routine normal> > LYMPHOID NODULAR HYPERPLASIA> > INDETERMINATE COLITIS**> > [* correction: he received measles > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/measles.html> vaccine first at > > approximately 15 months of> > age and MMR at 2.5. years]> >> > *Child 4 (2). Reacted to triple vaccine > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccine.html> 4 months - screaming and > > near cot death*> > (DPT)> > MMR at 15 months - behaviour changed after 1 week.> > "measles rash" week before> > Endoscopy - minor abnormalities of vascular pattern> > Histology - non-specific proctocolitis**> > Treated> > INDETERMINTE PROCTOCOLITIS> > LYMPHOID NODULAR HYPERPLASIA> >> > *Child 5 (3). MMR at 14 months.*> > Second day after, fever and rash, bangs head and behaviour abnormal> > thereafter.> > Endoscopy - Lymphoid nodular hyperplasia> > Histopathology: Marked increase in IEL's [intraepithelial lymphocytes] > > in ileum> > with chronic inflammatory cells in reactive follicles. Increase in > > inflammatory cells in colon and IELs increased.> > LYMPHOID NODULAR HYPERPLASIA> > INDETERMINATE COLITIS> >> > Child 6(7). MMR - 16 months - no obvious reaction> > 2 years behavioral change - 2.5 years> > Screaming attacks - / food <http://www.naturalnews.com/food.html> related> > Endoscopy - Lymphoid nodular hyperplasia terminal ileum> > Histology - Prominent lymphoid follicles> > Dhillon: moderate to marked increase in IEL's, increase in chronic > > inflammatory> > cells throughout the colon - superficial macrophages not quite granuloma> > INDTERMINATE COLITIS> > Child 78. MMR 14 months> > 16 months "growling voice"> > 18 months - behavioural changes - autism diagnosed at 3 years> > Barium [follow through X ray] 5 cm tight stricture [proximal] to > > insertion of> > terminal ileum> > Endoscopy- prominent lymphoid follicle in ileum> > Mild proctitis with granular mucosa> > Histology> > Ileum - reactive follicles> > Colon - bifid forms, increased IEL's> > Slight increase in inflammatory cells> > INDETERMINATE COLITIS> > ? CROHN'S DISEASE> >> > NOTES:> > (1) Inflammation that is not diagnostic of either Crohn's disease > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/Crohns_disease.html> or ulcerative colitis> > (2) Child 6 in The Lancet paper. The chronological order was corrected > > for the final Lancet paper.> > (3) Child 3 in The Lancet paper> >> >> > BMJ caught in its own fraud> >> > These documents reveal that the British Medical Journal has been > > caught in its own fraud for willfully ignoring this evidence, which > > was presented to it long before its recent publication of Deer's > > article <http://www.naturalnews.com/article.html> calling Dr Wakefield > > a fraud.> >> > The BMJ willfully ignored this evidence and simply decided to destroy > > Dr Wakefield's professional reputation by any means necessary. As Dr > > Wakefield explains:> >> > /"In allowing itself to become the vehicle for Deer's particular > > brand of journalism; in circumventing the process of due diligence in > > its enthusiasm to "kill the beast", the BMJ has taken a huge risk > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/risk.html>. As the document presented > > above shows, this was a mistake. Medicine, presented with the > > possibility of an iatrogenic catastrophe, has boarded a dissonant > > bandwagon and has gone after those who have concerns - genuine > > concerns - that childhood vaccines > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccines.html> may be responsible, at > > least in part, for the autism epidemic. The relevant science > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/science.html> has been grossly > > misrepresented, crushed beneath the wheels of a Public Relations > > 16-wheeler that is out of control. In the meantime a relentless > > tsunami of damaged children claims this land."/> >> >> > Deer caught as a liar> >> > It has also been revealed that journalist Deer, the author of > > the BMJ article condemning Dr Wakefield as a fraud, is himself a liar. > > In attempting to gather evidence for his article in the BMJ, he lied > > about his identity and entered the home of one of the parents of the > > autism children. Specifically, he claimed he was *working for The > > Sunday Times* even though he was never a Sunday Times employee.> >> > This is just the tip of the iceberg of the outright deception that has > > been used by the BMJ and Deer in their attempt to silence a > > doctor <http://www.naturalnews.com/doctor.html> whose only "crime" was > > publicly expressing concern about the safety > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/safety.html> of MMR vaccines.> >> > That the BMJ and its writer Deer have now been caught ignoring > > evidence and engaging in their own fraud gives credence to the idea > > that MMR vaccines may, indeed, not only be dangerous; but that *they > > may be so dangerous that the top medical journals > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/medical_journals.html> have to lie about > > the facts in order to protect them*.> >> > What's clear here is that the BMJ has strayed so far from the realm of > > evidence-based scientific thinking that it can no longer be called a > > reputable medical journal at all. Its *callous disregard* for the > > truth -- and its politically-motivated witch hunt against a researcher > > who only sought to protect the health > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/health.html> of children -- exposes it as > > *a danger <http://www.naturalnews.com/danger.html> to the scientific > > community and the world of conventional medicine > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/medicine.html>*.> >> > As this truth unfolds, *these revelations will rock the medical world > > and expose these science journals as the frauds they truly are*. Think > > about this: While these medical journals are taking money from vaccine > > manufacturers <http://www.naturalnews.com/vaccine_manufacturers.html> > > (who pay their ads), they are ignoring any scientific evidence they > > don't like in order to vilify anyone who threatens the profits of > > these very same vaccine companies! And yet, these medical journals > > never admit that their very existence depends on the financial flow of > > money <http://www.naturalnews.com/money.html> from these vaccine > > manufacturers who are strongly impacted by their editorial decisions!> >> > There is fraud taking place in the vaccine industry > > <http://www.naturalnews.com/industry.html> today, of course, and the > > medical journals are the point men who push their distorted > > disinformation into the minds of doctors, journalists and anyone they > > can reach with their scientific distortions. At stake is the future of > > the vaccine industry, which is of course a multi-billion-dollar > > industry that thrives on misinformation and the ongoing *scientific > > censorship of the facts* surrounding the health risks posed by vaccines.> >> >> > Read the book Callous Disregard> >> > Dr Wakefield is the author of /Callous Disregard/, the book > > that exposes the truth behind conventional medicine's political witch > > hunt.> >> > Learn more: > > http://www.naturalnews.com/031116_Dr__Wakefield_British_Medical_Journal.html#ixzz1CAN6JpSQ> >> > "The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his > > patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and > > prevention of disease." - Edison --- FAIR USE NOTICE: This > > transmittal may contain copyrighted material which is made available > > for educational purposes and to advance understanding of human rights, > > democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. > > The sender asserts that this transmittal constitutes a 'fair use' of > > any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. > > section 107 of the US Copyright Law. This material is distributed > > without profit.> >> >> >> >>