Merged Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud'

[Denver]

From CNN:

(CNN) -- A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an "elaborate fraud" that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday.

An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible.

 

[Michael Mozina]

From CNN:

Wakefield has been unable to reproduce his results in the face of criticism, and other researchers have been unable to match them. Most of his co-authors withdrew their names from the study in 2004 after learning he had had been paid by a law firm that intended to sue vaccine manufacturers -- a serious conflict of interest he failed to disclose.

Ya know...

The bad part of something like this is that even though this study has now been completely discredited, there are folks that still believe that MMR is responsible for or at least linked to autism.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

Is this news? I thought it had been discredited years ago. I thought it had publicly been discredited years ago (although, obviously, not with anything like the vigour or the widespread nature of the original scare stories), which is why Wakefield retracted it.

 

[Denver]

Is this news? I thought it had been discredited years ago. I thought it had publicly been discredited years ago (although, obviously, not with anything like the vigour or the widespread nature of the original scare stories), which is why Wakefield retracted it.

My understanding is that it had been discredited, but the extent of fraud is just now being published by investigative reporting, rather than a medical investigation.

At least, that's what I get from the CNN story.

 

[thatguywhojuggles]

Regardless if it's old news. That it's back on the front page is awesome. Don't knock it, even if it is rehashed news.

 

[AdMan]

Regardless if it's old news. That it's back on the front page is awesome. Don't knock it, even if it is rehashed news.

Agree.

Here's the link to the first part of the series in the BMJ.

Brian Deer exposes the bogus data behind claims that launched a worldwide scare over the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, and reveals how the appearance of a link with autism was manufactured at a London medical school

It's an exposé worthy of as much attention as it can get.

 

[rwguinn]

Regardless if it's old news. That it's back on the front page is awesome. Don't knock it, even if it is rehashed news.

This isn't:

Now, the BMJ reports that Wakefield, who was paid more than $675,000 by a lawyer hoping to sue vaccine makers, was not just unethical — he falsified data in the study, which suggested that children developed autism after getting a shot against measles, mumps and rubella.

Is there any punishment a low-life like that doesn't deserve?

 

[AdMan]

Is there any punishment a low-life like that doesn't deserve?

I hope Wakefield and the lawyers who paid him get sued for and lose every penny they have.

And yet they are still being defended... Sad.

 

[lionking]

Another small but important victory. Wakefield is a disgrace.

 

[Estellea]

Is this news? I thought it had been discredited years ago. I thought it had publicly been discredited years ago (although, obviously, not with anything like the vigour or the widespread nature of the original scare stories), which is why Wakefield retracted it.

See the subsequent posts to yours. Brian Deer has made allegations of Wakefield actually falsifying the 'Lancet 12's' medical records and now it is official. Wakers never retracted the Lancet study, it was done for him, about 6 years too late though.

The twoo believers over at Age of Autism are already caterwauling over this. I'm so shocked. John Stone still can't understand that Brian Deer was not a complainant for the GMC hearing against Wakers. And he also doesn't seem to understand (or the conspiracy theory makes for juicier reading) that if Wakers hadn't sued Mr. Deer, he wouldn't have gained access to the medical records, as I understand it.

Este

 

[BTMO]

Hey - Jenny McCarthy now has an opportunity to get a new book on the shelves...

 

[Seanette]

Wonder what Jenny McCarthy's going to do for a career now?

 

[Emet]

This isn't:

And from your link:

Offit says it may take years to rebuild trust in vaccines, even among parents who have never heard of The Lancet study.

"It's very hard to unscare people. You can do study after study, but people are far more compelled by their fears than by their reason," he says.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I flipped by CNN a couple of times this evening to see Wakefield being interviewed by Anderson Cooper as advertised but couldn't force myself to watch the other stuff. I'll wait for the YouTube thingy.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Is this news? I thought it had been discredited years ago. I thought it had publicly been discredited years ago (although, obviously, not with anything like the vigour or the widespread nature of the original scare stories), which is why Wakefield retracted it.

It has been totally discredited several years ago. This kind of publicity can't hurt, though.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Wonder what Jenny McCarthy's going to do for a career now?

Are you kidding? This study was already discredited, the vaccine-autism crowd doesn't care.

It's amazing how stubborn the human brain is in admitting it was wrong.

 

[Wowbagger]

I flipped by CNN a couple of times this evening to see Wakefield being interviewed by Anderson Cooper as advertised but couldn't force myself to watch the other stuff. I'll wait for the YouTube thingy.

Could Wakefield possibly be more of a scumbag? He spent almost all his interviewing time trying to sell a book!

 

[Chodorov]

From CNN:

But you don't believe all that rubbish do you? Of course they will say that? These criminals are responsible for destroying the lives of millions of people. They are the reason that kids are being filled with drugs for ADD, and mothers are still grieving their babies that have died of SIDS. What else are they going to come up with? Surely you would understand that they are way up to their eyeballs now and are not about to back down.

 

[Gawdzilla Sama]

But you don't believe all that rubbish do you? Of course they will say that? These criminals are responsible for destroying the lives of millions of people. They are the reason that kids are being filled with drugs for ADD, and mothers are still grieving their babies that have died of SIDS. What else are they going to come up with? Surely you would understand that they are way up to their eyeballs now and are not about to back down.

Are you talking about Big Pharma or the anti-vaxxers? Because you post can be read either way, except for that one line.

 

[Chodorov]

I'm talking about the government and medical establishment of course. I don't understand this anti-vaxxer business myself. I mean vaccination is an okay concept. But you don't need to jack three shades of Mercury into kids and then pretend that it wasn't you who killed them or hurt their brain.

Right now a campaign is afoot to reign in coal power on the grounds of the Mercury plumes they produce. And it remains a fact that the closer you are to a coal power station the more likely your boy is to have autism.