MMR vaccine study a fraud

Dr. Lisa Dana
1/6/2011

The BMJ (British Medical Journal) released a story yesterday that the MMR study, first published in the Lancet in 1998, was not only unethical, it was fraudulent.

Mr. Wakefield, a physician stripped of his medical license last year, claimed that his research related the MMR vaccine to autism. His study was based on only twelve children. Investigative reporter, Brian Deer of London, found that in fact only one child in the study had a diagnosis of regressive autism, and that 5 children in the study had pre-existing developmental concerns. The study claimed that the children were all previously healthy.

Mr. Wakefield also had financial gain from his irresponsible reporting. According to Medscape, he received consulting fees from attorneys as they filed lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.

Unfortunately, the population most affected by Mr. Wakefield’s scam is our children. Parents, afraid for the safety of their children, have chosen not to vaccinate. It is hard to separate fact from fiction, and twelve years later, I am still having to discuss vaccine safety with my parents. Just yesterday, I had a well-educated parent refuse the MMR for her now two year old. She admitted that she is not sure why she is afraid of the vaccine…but she is.

Today I was interviewed on 7Live regarding this issue. The host was appropriately concerned about the oversight of medical publishing. Another big issue is the lack of vaccination & the fall out from this fraudulence. We have a pertussis epidemic in California, children in Europe and the U.S. are coming down with the measles. These are real diseases and children die from these diseases.

Not only that, this scam has diluted the real attention that autism needs. Another guest on the show had a child with autism. He devotes his volunteer hours to AutismSpeaks. He lives with autism every day, and knows that only credible research is going to help his son.

Autism is an overwhelming disease for a family. It consumes them full time. Families are not only trying to raise their child and set them up for success, but are also trying to maintain family normalcy which includes working, school and paying bills.

I hope now we can give autism the real attention it deserves

Isn't this old news? It was just posted but I know I already knew this. It is terrible that Autism hasn't been looked at like it should have been because of that guy's lies about his "study" though.

I knew it too... I did a lot of research prior to vaccinating my kids, and I remember reading that the study was flawed about 4 years ago. Maybe the news that it was fraudulent is new? I agree with the article that it really freaks people out and does a disservice. I know that even after doing the research and coming to the conclusion that the vaccine is safe and not linked to autism, I was still nervous about vaccinating. :/

I only recently found out this study was a fraud in the news. Very interesting indeed.

That vaccine still worries me. My DS3 was really ill after his, he was in hospital. A few weeks before that my nephew was too because of it, he had it a lot worse. I decided to postpone DS4's until about 18 months, he is almost 18 months now but he has been really ill and the other day he came out in a rash. I took him to A&E and they suspected measels, he was admitted to the ward for further examination. It turned out it was viral. He's all better now. Although the vaccine does still worry me, he will be getting it asap.

It still worries me too, even though when i researched it, (when my 1st son was due it) and read that the study was flawed, i didnt know that it was fraudulent.....that must be why it is in the news, that must be new thing. Apparently though, the government are trying to use scare tactics to insure people do take up on the vaccine. None of my boys have had the vaccine and i wont feel comfortable to allow them to ave it even now. We have a family friend whose little boy was totally fine until he had the vaccine.......i know that it has been said that the symptoms for autism become apparent at the same time as the vaccine is done but i just cant do it. DS2 did have the measles when he was younger, but that was before he was at the age that they give the vaccine, he was only 10/11 month when he had it. I know that measles CAN be really bad and lead to complications, but it is are for it to do so. DS2 didnt suffer any complications and the illness was a lot milder than what id been scared into thinking it was. And, suprisingly, considering theres apparently an epidemic in britain of measles because its so contagious, my older son didnt catch it from DS2! What also is worrying me at the moment is the coming introduction of the six-in-one vaccine.......they havent said yet what the vaccine is offering protection against but im betting it includes the MMR so that parents feel more forced into letting their children have it. anyway, just my :twocents:

I was actually delaying this shot for ds. That is until our doctor said he saw a few cases of Mumps recently. So....ds is getting the shot this week!