The Death of A Myth: Dr. Wakefield and the MMR-Autism Link
On Thursday, January 6th, the Globe and Mail ran an article about one of the great research frauds in recent history – Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s study that developed a probable link between the MMR vaccine as a cause of autism. Dr. Wakefield first published his findings in The Lancet on Feb. 28, 1998. He wanted the MMR vaccine replaced by three separate shots, then strangely enough he patented his own measles vaccine to replace the MMR one.
In 2004 a British journalist from The Sunday Times, Brian Deer, published evidence of Dr. Wakfield’s ties to the MMR lawsuit launched by a group against the vaccine. He was on their payroll and his research was going to be the centerpiece of the group’s claim. The children in the lawsuit were recruited unethically and there were other flaws in Wakefield’s study. For years, scientists have been trying to reproduce his findings but none have ever found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.