MMR Vaccine: Wakefield Study Linking Vaccine To Autism Retracted

by Yuliya Talmazan | February 2, 2010 at 12:10 pm

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The study linking the MMR vaccine to the onset of autism has been retracted by medical journal The Lancet. The controversial study on the MMR vaccine was conducted by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who is now accused of academic "dishonesty" and can even be stripped of his medical license. An investigation launched by the U.K. General Medical Council determined that some of the test subjects in the 1998 study were handpicked. Moreover, it became known that the ethics committee never approved the study. The results of the investigation were published on January 28, prompting this response from The Lancet:

Following the judgment of the UK General Medical Council's Fitness to Practise Panel on Jan 28, 2010, it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al 1 are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation. 2 In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were "consecutively referred" and that investigations were "approved" by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false.

Wakefield maintains his innocence.

"The allegations against me and against my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust and I invite anyone to examine the contents of these proceedings and come to their own conclusion."

Vaccines have not received much love in the recent years, and many say the findings of Dr. Wakefield might have contributed to this general sentiment. Once considered a lifesaver in the face of deadly infectious diseases, vaccines are now regarded as worse than the very diseases they were intended to prevent. Think about the most recent swine flu craze, when anything, including backward walking, was blamed as a side effect of the vaccine. It is very difficult to prove that an illness developed after a vaccine shot was administered is in fact attributable to the vaccine. But, by way of cause and effect logical fallacy many people are quick to blame the vaccine, forgetting that there are things way more toxic in our surroundings, including cigarette smoke and furniture covered in formaldehyde.

However, all that Dr. Wakefield attempted to do was start a discussion. And, in the scientific community any opinion or hypothesis should always be welcome, no matter how controversial or illogical. After all, the most revolutionary ideas in science have almost always been laughed at for years before they made it big and proved to be the new way of thinking in the field. So, the idea that a researcher would suggest a possible link between vaccine and the onset of autism is not out of this world. The way this hypothesis was taken out of context and exploited by the media the general public was what gave it the status of theory and an indisputable fact, which most likely was not the intention of Andrew Wakefield's research group. Interestingly, the controversial study itself never established a definitive link between MMR vaccine and autism. Yet, the fallout from the study has been sensational.

But, most scientists are used to being proven wrong. It is part of their job to be wrong most of the time, but never stop trying to explain things. Allowing them to dare being wrong is what is important to make sure medicine continues to develop at the same rate that it has until now.