MMR doctor doctored his data
Dr Andrew Wakefield sparked a major international scare with his 1998 article purporting to find a link between autism and the triple vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). An in-depth investigation by The Sunday Times of London has discovered that his results were based on falsified data.
The research was published in February 1998 in an article in The Lancet medical journal. It claimed that the families of eight out of 12 children attending a routine clinic at the hospital had blamed MMR for their autism, and said that problems came on within days of the jab. The team also claimed to have discovered a new inflammatory bowel disease underlying the children’s conditions.
However, our investigation, confirmed by evidence presented to the General Medical Council (GMC), reveals that: In most of the 12 cases, the children’s ailments as described in The Lancet were different from their hospital and GP records. Although the research paper claimed that problems came on within days of the jab, in only one case did medical records suggest this was true, and in many of the cases medical concerns had been raised before the children were vaccinated. Hospital pathologists, looking for inflammatory bowel disease, reported in the majority of cases that the gut was normal. This was then reviewed and the Lancet paper showed them as abnormal.
The Lancet seems to have a habit of publishing inflammatory but baseless studies.
What is especially incredible to me is that the scare was based on a study of only 12 patients. Even if the data had not been manipulated, a sample that small cannot prove much of anything. At the very least, the study’s results would need to be verified by further research involving larger samples before reaching any definitive conclusions.
The GMC has charged Dr Wakefield and two colleagues with serious professional misconduct related to ethical issues over the treatment of children in the study, not its findings. All three deny everything.
The Sunday Times has several related stories today:
- Hidden records show MMR truth
- How the MMR scare led to the return of measles
- MMR: Key dates in the crisis
h/t: Eye On Britain
[...] OUR HIGH PRIESTHOOD– MMR doctor doctored his data …. [...]
[...] OUR HIGH PRIESTHOOD– MMR doctor doctored his data …. [...]
[...] Gilbreath of Nova Scotia Scott offers: MMR doctor doctored his data Scott remarks upon something which seems to have surprised a number of commentators and is [...]