Andrew Wakefield Summary

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Andrew Wakefield is a British former gastroenterologist and medical researcher who was struck off the UK medical register for his fraudulent 1998 research paper, and other proven charges of misconduct, in support of the now-discredited claim that there was a link between the administration of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and the appearance of autism and bowel disease. In 1995, as an academic physician working in a London teaching hospital, he was contacted by the parent of an autistic child with stomach issues. He soon learned from several other parents with autistic behaviors, that their children’s regressive behavior immediately followed an MMR vaccine. He started investigating a possible role between gastrointestinal issues, the MMR vaccine, and neurological injury in children. In pursuit of this possible link, Dr. Wakefield participated in a study of twelve children with both stomach and developmental issues. The ensuing report, written with twelve other authors would catapult Wakefield into becoming one of the most controversial figures in the history of medicine. The results of the study were submitted to The Lancet, a British …show more content…

findings in the Lancet paper for The Sunday Paper, a News Corp/Rupert Murdoch asset, and subsequent reports for the UK’s Channel 4 and the British Medical Journal (BMJ), claiming that Wakefield et al. had falsified data and committed fraud. Deer attacked Dr. Wakefield’s ethics, as having unreported conflicts of financial interests, and of falsifying research data in a report co-authored by 12 others. The Lancet paper was retracted for reasons that were subsequently shown to be false in the English High Court. Nonetheless, the Lancet editor refused to reinstate the paper. Deer’s allegations led the General Medical Council to revoke Dr. Wakefield’s license to practice

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