LOS ANGELES -- Twelve years after Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his research in the international medical journal the Lancet purporting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism, the publication on Tuesday formally retracted the paper.
The action came less than a week after the U.K. General Medical Council's Fitness to Practice Panel concluded that Wakefield had provided false information in the report and acted with "callous disregard" for the children in the study. The council is now considering whether Wakefield is guilty of serious professional misconduct. A positive finding could cause him to lose his medical practice.
Wakefield's study, conducted on only 12 children, concluded that the MMR vaccine is a primary cause of autism. He subsequently said that he could not, in good conscience, recommend that parents have their children vaccinated.
"The MMR immunization rate in Britain dropped precipitously after this paper came out, and it still hasn't come up to pre-paper levels since then," said Dr. Max Wiznitzer, pediatric neurologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.
"What this did was scare the public. Certain families delayed immunizations of their children, and children have been brain damaged because of the natural consequences of measles," said Wiznitzer, who has testified as an expert witness for the government several times in vaccine court cases.
Wakefield's words and actions also led to a sharp drop in vaccination rates in the United States and a resurgence in measles. Despite multiple subsequent studies that have refuted the link, vaccination rates have remained lower than they were before his report, and many parents remain concerned about the potential effects of the lifesaving vaccines.
"This will help to restore faith in this globally important vaccine and in the integrity of the scientific literature," Dr. Fiona Goodlee, editor of the BMJ -- formerly the British Medical Journal -- said Tuesday in a prepared statement. On Monday, Goodlee had joined the chorus of scientists urging the Lancet to withdraw the paper.
"The supporters [of Wakefield] really see this as an attack on his research, that they're trying to stifle his work. But is this the way you want research to be done in this area? It's very bothersome," said Wiznitzer.
Wakefield, who now practices in Austin, Texas, said the accusations against him were "unfounded" and "unjust." Other researchers, however, are happy to put the episode behind them so they can go on with the difficult task of finding the true causes of autism.
Measles Vaccine NOT linked to Autism
(Posted Sept. 4, 2008) AAP
A new study provides further proof that measles vaccine has no link to autism spectrum disorder, debunking a theory that has persisted for more than a decade.
Scientists examined bowel tissues from 25 children with autism and gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances for the presence of measles virus, and compared the results to biopsies from 13 children who have GI disturbances but not autism. Children with autism were no more likely to have measles virus in their bowels. Nor did researchers find any relationship between the timing of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and children developing GI problems or autism.
“This study adds a critical piece to the mountain of evidence that MMR vaccine does not autism,” said Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We are hopeful these results will put this theory to rest. Parents should feel confident this life-saving vaccine has been thoroughly researched and found to be safe.”
The research was published in PLoS One, the peer-reviewed, online journal of the Public Library of Science. The study was funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the American Academy of Pediatrics