This issue refuses to go away. Andrew Wakefield is going to court in Texas to claiming that articles in the British Medical Journal BMJ) were "false and make defamatory allegations" about the doctor.
BMJ Case rejected by the High Court
Prof. Walker-Smith and Dr. Wakefield were among 13 co-authors of a case series reported in the British journal, The Lancet, in 1998, which identified a novel inflammatory bowel disease in children diagnosed with autism. The association between autism and bowel disease has been repeatedly confirmed by subsequent studies, [i] [ii] [iii] [iv] including a 2010 consensus report published in Pediatrics.[v]
While the Lancet paper did not state that the MMR vaccine caused either inflammatory bowel disease or autism in the 12 children in the case series, the authors did note that seven of the children had received the MMR vaccine and that further investigation of a possible link to autism was warranted. “From the mere suggestion that a vaccine could have a potential link with adverse outcomes, a war was waged against these distinguished physicians and researchers,” said National Autism Association Executive Director and parent Lori McIlwain. “No one questions that adverse vaccine events do occur in susceptible individuals, yet those who investigate these events on behalf of sick children are subjected to the harshest scrutiny and punishment.”
In the case of Dr. Wakefield, being stripped of his license to practice medicine led to his move to the U.S. Unlike Prof. Walker-Smith who received funding for the appeal through his insurance carrier, Dr. Wakefield has been unable to appeal the GMC decision against him. However, Dr. Wakefield has filed a defamation suit against Brian Deer and the British Medical Journal whose allegations of fraud were the basis of the GMC inquiry.
In a statement issued earlier today, UK advocacy organization Justice Awareness and Basic Support (JABS) said that the High Court’s decision found that:
- The children reported in the 1998 Lancet paper were very ill and did warrant serious clinical investigation and the investigations conducted were entirely appropriate for the children’s needs.
- The allegations of fraud based on this misconstruction, propagated by journalist Brian Deer, politician Evan Harris, the Murdoch press and the British Medical Journal (and rubberstamped by the GMC) are therefore also unfounded.
Many parents and autism organizations are hopeful that the exoneration of Prof. Walker-Smith will pave the way for more open investigation of the potential role of vaccines in the development of autism and other serious health concerns. “Today’s decision is a win not only for Dr. Walker-Smith, but for all families affected by autism,” said Ms. McIlwain. “Physicians and researchers must be free to explore all avenues towards causation and treatment without fear of reprisals if we are to truly make a difference for our children.
References:
[i] Clinical Presentation and Histologic Findings at Ileocolonoscopy in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Chronic Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Arthur Krigsman, MD, et al, New York University School of Medicine, Autism Insights, 27 Jan 2010
[ii] Endoscopic and Histological Characteristics of the Digestive Mucosa in Autistic Children with gastro-Intestinal Symptoms.Gonzalez L, et al. ArchVenez Pueric Pediatr, 2005;69:19-25.
[iii] Panenteric IBD-like disease in a patient with regressive autism shown for the first time by wireless capsulenteroscopy: Another piece in the jig-saw of the gut-brain syndrome? Balzola F, et al. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 2005. 100(4):979-981.
[iv] Childhood autism and eosinophilic colitis. Chen B, Girgis S, El-Matary W.. Digestion. 2010;81:127-9. Epub 2010 Jan 9].
[v] Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Disorders in Individuals With ASDs: A Consensus Report, Timothy Buie, MD, et al, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School Pediatrics, Vol. 125 Supplement January 2010
Introduction
So much has been written about autism and a possible link to the MMR vaccine, that it can be very difficult to filter out the vested interests and find the grains of truth.
We should all be very wary of accepting, without question, the statements offered by regulators and government agencies, and those journalists who simply accept everything that our guardians state. Remember what Ireland's financial regulators were telling us about our banks in recent years ...
Andrew Wakefield and those who share his concerns regarding MMR are not "anti-vaccine" - but rather "pro safe vaccine".
BMJ Statement:
05/01/2011: Clear evidence of falsification of data should now close the door on this damaging vaccine scare
Fiona Godlee (editor of British Medical Journal) says that Andrew Wakefield's article linking MMR vaccine and autism was based not on bad science but on a deliberate fraud. Click here for their full statement.
Irish Times Report:
06/01/2011: Wakefield accused of fraud over MMR scare
"Following a lengthy investigation, the British Medical Journal says the 1998 scare involving the MMR vaccine, which led to a marked drop in childhood immunisation rates, was based not on bad science but on a deliberate fraud perpetrated by the original investigator, Dr Andrew Wakefield." Muiris Houston
Response from National Autism Association (NAA):
05/01/2011: National Autism Association says BMJ article is yet another attempt to thwart vaccine safety research
The British Medical Journal published an article today attacking Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his work towards a better understanding of the medical issues involved in the development of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Dr. Wakefield co-authored the case series reported in the British Journal, The Lancet, in 1998, which identified a novel inflammatory bowel disease in children diagnosed with autism. The association between autism and bowel disease has been repeatedly confirmed by subsequent studies, including a consensus report published a year ago in Pediatrics.
The President of NAA says: "Studying our children, investigating when and how they regressed, why so many of them have seizure disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, and other serious health complications may hold the answers we so desperately need. A historical study comparing vaccinated versus unvaccinated populations for total health outcomes has the potential to help us learn and find critical answers, yet repeated requests for such studies have been denied by our federal health agencies. A character assassination initiative against those who look for answers only serves to stunt medical progress for our children and perpetuate unnecessary public health risks.”
Andrew Wakefield's Book in 2010:
Autism and Vaccines - The truth behind a tragedy
"Callous Disregard" is Andrew Wakefield's book which gives a detailed account of his work, and the reactions and response of the medical establishment and media.
"Most well-known facts were at one point unproved intuitions. Movements in science rise and fall based on data, not controversy. If you want to know the truth about vaccines and autism, here is a simple formula that’s guaranteed to produce it: allow the research to be done, do good science, keep an open mind, and be patient. The truth will be borne out by data, not by passion, opinion, or politics. If indeed vaccines contribute to the cause of autism for some children, it will be impossible to cover up the evidence forever. If, on the other hand, they don’t, no amount of passion will ever substitute for proof of causation. The causes of autism are out there and they will be found. Wakefield's work is a first step in this direction." Dr Doreen Granpeesheh, founder of CARD, (Center for Autism and Related Disorders).
This book gives a detailed but readable account of the actions of the medical establishment in this matter, and the incredible attack on Wakefield, and the spinning of the truth into something totally at odds with the facts.
The book also includes a specific chapter dealing with the accusations of "fraud" made by Brian Deer, journalist in 2008. Andrew Wakefield refutes these accusations, and provides a detailed reply, point by point, line by line, to Deer's accusations.
Click here for more info on ths book, or you can order this book from SafeMinds web-site.
The Establishment's view:
The GMC and BMJ have both expressed their strident negative views on Dr. Wakefield and on his research. Others in the media have driven this character and scientific assasination, most notably Brian Deer and The Sunday Times. Blogs such as Left Brain Right Brain (LBRB) take a similar view.
Your author's observations:
In terms of commentary, a very large segment of the medical establishment has attacked Dr. Wakefield and his published research. In many cases, these attacks come from very powerful medical and drug company-related sources, or people who have not read the relevant papers, who presumably do not want to see any questioning eye being cast over their multi-billion dollar products, in terms of their potential link to childhood developmental disorders. But in many studies, exposure to the measles virus has been linked to CDD (“Childhood Disintegrative Disorder”) and autism. Whether or not the small quantity of the virus in the MMR vaccine is sufficient to increase the risk of autism to children is a valid subject for continuing research – and this is what Dr. Wakefield has advocated all along. His 1998 Lancet paper concluded: “We did not prove an association between measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described (ie. CDD and autism). Virological studies are underway that could help to resolve this issue ... further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to this vaccine”.
As many people will know, in March 2004, the British General Medical Council (GMC) announced an inquiry into allegations of misconduct against Dr. Wakefield relating to his Lancet paper. Starting the hearing in 2007, the GMC hearing concluded in January 2010, with a finding of guilty on a number of charges charges, all of which Dr. Wakefield vigorously rejected. But whether these allegations were true or not, or reasonable judgements on his behaviour or not, none of them has anything to do with the science of the 1998 Lancet paper – of which even the editor of the Lancet said in the GMC hearing that it ’still stands’.
Despite this, the British Society of Ecological Medicine continue to support Dr. Wakefield's position: "We share his concerns over possible causal links between MMR and Autism .... We further share his concerns that the incidence of autism is increasing, that it has an environmental cause, and the evidence is such that MMR vaccination may have a causal effect. It is our belief that, in response to his research and clinical evidence, he has behaved in a moral and honorable way, and, given the same circumstances, any one of us would have considered ourselves obliged to react in a similar fashion."
Dr. Wakefield was subsequently struck off by the GMC in April 2010 due to its earlier judgement.
Your author has had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Wakefield present at biomedical conferences, and he is a passionate modest British professional, who was effectively hounded out of the UK and moved to Texas in order to continue his work. He is regarded as a hero by many in the autism and medical community.
We have a link to a fascinating interview in which Dr. Wakefield outlines the background to his work, and the establishment's response to it. It really is well worth the time to listen to this interview. It is a series of 10 minute video items.
A separate branch of questioning scientists and medical research personnel suggest that it is the small quantities of mercury in the same vaccines (in the form of thimerosal) that is the agent of insult.
What cannot be denied is that there is a litany of parents who report a severe regression in their children on or after the time of vaccination, and whilst that co-incidence of timing isn’t sufficient to claim a cause-and-effect, it indicates that for some people, this is a valid area of real concern. Maybe both MMR and mercury “scaremongers” are right . . . or both wrong. But why block the research and try to ridicule those who pose these questions?
Andrew Wakefield's CV:
Dr. Wakefield is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and in 1996, in Canada, he carried out a study of small intestine transplantation. He then returned to the UK to continue the study of inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn’s disease). In 1998, Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues at the Royal Free Hospital in London reported a novel inflammatory bowel disease in children with developmental disorders such as autism, which later became known as “autistic enterocolitis”.
Dr. Wakefield is involved in many scientific research collaborations worldwide centring on immunology, metabolical and pathological changes occurring inflammatory bowel diseases, such as autistic enterocolitis, links between intestinal disease and neurologic injury in children; and the possible relationship of these conditions to environmental causes, such as childhood vaccines.
During the course of his work on childhood developmental disorders, Dr. Wakefield was increasingly convinced of the need for a research-oriented, integrated biomedical and educational approach to these disorders. Until recently, he was carrrying out this work in Thoughtful House Centre for Children, in Austin, Texas. Dr Wakefield is now working in a senior position within The Autism File.