Autism and MMR Vaccine Study an 'Elaborate Fraud,' Charges BMJ

[uppityperson]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735354?src=ptalk

BMJ is publishing a series of 3 articles and editorials charging that the study published in The Lancet in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues linking the childhood measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to a "new syndrome" of regressive autism and bowel disease was not just bad science but "an elaborate fraud."

According to the first article published in BMJ today by London-based investigative reporter Brian Deer, the study's investigators altered and falsified medical records and facts, misrepresented information to families, and treated the 12 children involved unethically.

In addition, Mr. Wakefield accepted consultancy fees from lawyers who were building a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers, and many of the study participants were referred by an antivaccine organization.

In an accompanying editorial, BMJ Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee, MD, Deputy BMJ Editor Jane Smith, and Associate BMJ Editor Harvey Marcovitch write that there is no doubt that Mr. Wakefield perpetrated fraud. "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 1 direction; misreporting was gross."...(more)

Investigator Planned to Make Vast Profit From Autism/MMR Vaccine Scare, BMJ Says
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735721?src=ptalk


http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/736054?src=ptalk

Medical Establishment Buried Concerns About MMR/Autism Study, BMJ Charges
The medical establishment "closed ranks" to protect Andrew Wakefield, the researcher whose 1998 study linked the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism, according to a third and final article of a special investigative series published online January 18 in the BMJ.

UK journalist Brian Deer alleges that when he approached The Lancet editor Richard Horton in 2004 with concerns about potential issues of research fraud, conflicts of interest, and unethical treatment of children discovered while researching an article about the study for the Sunday Times, The Lancet failed to ensure that a formal, independent investigation was conducted.

In his most recent BMJ article, Mr. Deer writes that failure to conduct such an investigation and the series of denials issued by Mr. Wakefield, his coauthors, and the Royal Free Hospital led to the public being "misled for 6 years" about the credibility of the article before The Lancet finally retracted it in February 2010.

"That's really the nubbin of this story — the failing of The Lancet and the Royal Free to investigate adequately when questions were raised back in 2004," Fiona Godlee, MD, BMJ editor-in-chief, told Medscape Medical News. "Although it was discredited in some ways, this damaging article still sat in the literature for 6 years. And the GMC went through this incredibly lengthy and expensive investigation, which potentially might have been avoided to some extent," added Dr. Godlee....(more)

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735439?src=ptalk
Autism and the MMR Vaccine, Revisited
(video with transcript)

[xchrom]

1. i went to rec this -- but the feature disappeared? nt

[xchrom]

2. wow -- now it's back with my rec. nt

[HuckleB]

3. It's back.

[xchrom]

4. goody! nt

[HuckleB]

5. Interestingly, the use of selective evidence, and even selective wording from...

... evidence that actually goes against the anti-vaccination creed continues to be pushed daily. Wakefield the fraud appears to be an inspiration for far too many.