Newspaper: Autism-vaccine scare began when MD faked data
February 7th, 2009According to an investigation by the [UK] Sunday Times, the original study that incited public fears of a possible link between vaccines and autism was based on changed and misreported data.
The study by Andrew Wakefield, published in The Lancet in February 1998, said that children developed autism symptoms and developed inflammatory bowel disease shortly after getting MMR vaccine injections.
The Times investigation now says that most of the cases cited by Wakefield were not as his study described.
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.
Through his lawyers, Wakefiled rejected the paper’s conclusion but declined to comment further. Since Wakefield’s study was published, vaccinations in the UK have dropped dramatically and the number of measles cases has risen from 56 cases in 1998 to 1,348 cases last year — an increase of more than 2,300 per cent.
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February 9th, 2009 at 8:52 am
This is not ok. If it can be proven that someone purposely altered research and thereby endangered public health surely there should be jail time.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Wow.