Re: uk: In the dock: the man who caused the great MMR scare

June 12, 2006

Oh, my God. This man is a saint, and they're crucifying him. He's in my prayers.

Liz

-------------- Original message ----------------------

From: binstock@...

> A risky move that may revive parents' fears Independent Porfolio Content

> http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article799461.ece

>

> * * * *

>

> In the dock: the man who caused the great MMR scare

>

> By nce, Health Editor

> Published: 12 June 2006

> http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article799541.ece

>

> The doctor who sparked an international scare over the safety of MMR

> vaccine is to be charged with serious professional misconduct by the

> General Medical Council in an attempt by the medical establishment finally

> to lay the controversy to rest.

>

> Wakefield, who published a research paper in 1998 purporting to

> show a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, is accused in preliminary

> charges of publishing " inadequately founded " research, failing to obtain

> ethical committee approval, obtaining funding " improperly " and of

> subjecting children to " unnecessary and invasive investigations " , The

> Independent has learnt. The research is said to have caused immunisation

> rates to slump and cases of measles, mumps and rubella to soar. The

> research, which appeared in The Lancet, is said to have done more damage

> than anything published in a scientific journal in living memory.

>

> Detailed charges are being formulated by the GMC's lawyers for

> presentation in the autumn and a public hearing is expected next year. If

> found guilty Dr Wakefield, 50, could be struck off the medical register.

>

> The GMC has brought the case itself in the public interest. There is no

> complainant. The investigation has taken two years and lawyers for Dr

> Wakefield say he and his family are suffering distress caused by the delay

> in bringing charges.

>

> The research was carried out at the Royal Free Hospital, north London, by

> Dr Wakefield and 12 other doctors and published in The Lancet in February

> 1998. The warning about the combined vaccine was amplified by Dr Wakefield

> at a press conference - to the disquiet of his colleagues present - and

> the subsequent scare led tens of thousands of parents to boycott the

> vaccine.

>

> Immunisation rates fell over the next five years from more than 90 per

> cent nationally to a low of 78.9 per cent in early 2003. In parts of

> London rates fell below 60 per cent. There was a resurgence in cases of

> the three diseases, including rubella (German measles), according to the

> Health Protection Agency. The number of cases of mumps soared from 4,204

> cases in 2003 to 16,436 in 2004 and to 56,390 cases last year.

>

> Since 2003 the MMR vaccination rate has increased slightly and in mid-2005

> stood at 83 per cent. A spokeswoman for the agency said: " The fear of

> Wakefield has dissipated a bit. The figures are coming back up. "

>

> In 2004 it emerged that at the time he was preparing The Lancet paper, Dr

> Wakefield was being paid by lawyers for parents of children allegedly

> damaged by the MMR vaccine to look for evidence that could be used to help

> take legal action against manufacturers of the vaccine.

>

> He received £55,000 from the Legal Aid Board, which was paid into his

> research fund but which he had not disclosed to his co-researchers. At

> least four of the 12 children in the Lancet study were also in the Legal

> Aid Board funded study. He was accused by The Lancet of failing to declare

> a conflict of interest that could have influenced his findings.

>

> Horton, the editor, declared the paper " fatally flawed " and said

> if he had known in 1998 about the conflict of interest he would never have

> published it. The journal partially withdrew the paper in February 2004

> and the following month 10 of the 12 authors withdrew the claim of a link

> with autism. Reid, the Health Secretary at the time, called on the

> GMC to hold an inquiry. Dr Wakefield, a consultant gastroenterologist,

> left the Royal Free Hospital in 2001 " by mutual agreement " . He has since

> worked mainly in America.

>

> The Government's chief medical officer, Sir Liam son, accused Dr

> Wakefield of mixing " spin and science " . But Jackie Flether of the support

> group Jabs, representing parents concerned about vaccination, said: " The

> GMC charges are totally unfounded and seem to be a total witch hunt

> against Wakefield and the research team. All the researchers did

> was raise a red flag [about MMR] and say more research was needed. " All

> the doctors are believed to have denied professional misconduct.

>

> The spread of a contagion of fear

>

> By Geneviève

>

> * FEBRUARY 1998: Wakefield's paper is published in The Lancet,

> linking the MMR triple vaccine with autism

>

> * 2000: Demand for single vaccines rises

>

> * JANUARY 2001: The Government rejects calls for a single measles vaccine

> on the NHS

>

> * 2001: MMR vaccinations fall to 84.2 per cent of children, down from 92

> per cent in 1996

>

> * EARLY 2003: Immunisation rates reach low of 78.9 per cent

>

> * NOVEMBER 2003: Dr Simon Murch says there is " unequivocal evidence that

> MMR is not a risk factor for autism "

>

> * 2004: It emerges that while preparing his Lancet paper, Dr Wakefield was

> being paid by lawyers for parents of children allegedly damaged by MMR

>

> * 2004: Immunisation rates rise to 81 per cent

>

> * 2004: Number of cases of mumps: 16,436, up from 4,204 the previous year.

> In 2005 the number is up to 56,390

>

> * MID-2005: Immunisation rates rise to 85 per cent

>

> * OCTOBER 2005: Cochrane Library says there is no credible evidence that

> MMR harms

>

> * APRIL 2006: A boy, 13, who had not received the MMR vaccine, becomes the

> first person to die of measles in 14 years