UPDATE from CNN: Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds (See Post#221)

[ACW]

http://reason.com/blog/2010/01/28/researcher-who-sparked-the-vac

...the UK’s General Medical Council has found that Andrew Wakefield — the founder of the modern antivaccination movement — acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" when doing the research that led him to conclude that vaccinations were linked with autism. This is being reported everywhere, including

the BBC

,

Sky News

, the

Yorkshire Evening Post

, and more.

The GMC (the independent body of medical regulators in the UK, rather like the AMA in the US) didn’t investigate whether his claims were correct or not — and let’s be very clear,

his claims have been shown beyond any doubt to be totally wrong

— only whether he acted ethically in his research. What they found is that his research (involving spinal taps of children) was against the children’s clinical interest, that Wakefield was unqualified to perform the test, and that he had no ethical approval to do them.

Wow. Again, let’s be clear: that’s a

whole

lot of ethical damnation from the UK’s leading medical board.

Not to pile on here, but I was rather surprised that they didn’t mention the claims — supported by a lot of evidence — that on top of all that unethical behavior,

he may have faked his results

, too. There’s also no mention of his grave conflict of interest– at the time he published his paper slamming vaccines and which started the antivax craze,

he was developing an alternative to vaccinations

, so he had a very large monetary incentive to make the public distrust vaccines.

[ACW]

Nobody cares? I'd say this is pretty damn big news.

[HighOnHendrix]

Nobody cares? I'd say this is pretty damn big news.

We're jaded to researchers faking/exaggerating/scare-mongering/being biased in their research for personal gain or to further a political ideology. Global warming, what causes cancer this week, cellphones are evil, etc. They have cried wolf so many times, that, yeah nobody cares. Don't feel bad, nobody cares about my Formula 1/sports car racing threads, either!

[twa]

Don't feel bad, nobody cares about my Formula 1/sports car racing threads, either!

Real men only turn left

[HighOnHendrix]

Real men only turn left

Dale Junior's steering wheel:

Felipe Massa's steering wheel:

[pointyfootball]

Nobody cares? I'd say this is pretty damn big news.

Probably because people already had chosen sides on the vaccination debate and this just takes away (or gives) each side an additional argument. Not going to change their minds either way. With the way our culture is, the media uses these "findings" to scare people into watching/reading and we just keep lapping it up.

[PeterMP]

We're jaded to researchers faking/exaggerating/scare-mongering/being biased in their research for personal gain or to further a political ideology. Global warming, what causes cancer this week, cellphones are evil, etc. They have cried wolf so many times, that, yeah nobody cares. Don't feel bad, nobody cares about my Formula 1/sports car racing threads, either!

I would like to point out the difference between this and global warming. Most notably the scientific community at any sort of large/organizational level NEVER embraced this idea (e.g. the AMA or the American Academy of Pediatrics never issued statements about warming about the dangers of vaccine with respect to autism).

It wasn't out right rejected right away, but as different studies have come in the general scientific community has been relatively clear that there is no good link between vaccines and autism.

For almost anything, you can find some small group of people that support some idea, and not just in science. In science, occassionally something comes along and moves a whole field to an idea that is fraudalent (on purpose, but sometimes not even that, but "accidental" fraud), but in those cases pretty quickly (usually less than a year) the major body of science realizes the mistake and moves back.

Some times people, for example like to talk about the cold fusion fiasco from the late 1980's as an example of science as a whole being duped. The thing is it was a few months from the time the annoucement was made and real leaders in the field were expressing real doubts.

[HighOnHendrix]

I would like to point out the difference between this and global warming. Most notably the scientific community at any sort of large/organizational level NEVER embraced this idea (e.g. the AMA or the American Academy of Pediatrics never issued statements about warming about the dangers of vaccine with respect to autism).

It wasn't out right rejected right away, but as different studies have come in the general scientific community has been relatively clear that there is no good link between vaccines and autism.

For almost anything, you can find some small group of people that support some idea, and not just in science. In science, occassionally something comes along and moves a whole field to an idea that is fraudalent (on purpose, but sometimes not even that, but "accidental" fraud), but in those cases pretty quickly (usually less than a year) the major body of science realizes the mistake and moves back.

Some times people, for example like to talk about the cold fusion fiasco from the late 1980's as an example of science as a whole being duped. The thing is it was a few months from the time the annoucement was made and real leaders in the field were expressing real doubts.

I was making the comparison more in how the media reports these things and the reaction of normal people to them as opposed to whether they are accepted by the scientific community. On that part you are right, the analogy does not hold up at all.

[Mad Mike]

If it were up to me there would be a death penalty for this POS.

[ACW]

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/24/autism-mythmaker-banned-in-bri

:)

[Spartacus87]

Doesn't Jenny McCarthy go around pushing the idea that vaccination shots caused her son's autism?

[Predicto]

Doesn't Jenny McCarthy go around pushing the idea that vaccination shots caused her son's autism?

A lot of people believe a lot of things that are wrong.

We all want to have some understanding of the REASON something bad happens. There has to be a reason, because random chance is just too frightening. There must be more to the 9/11 story, because it is really scary to think that we are that vulnerable to terrorists. There must be a connection between cell phones and brain cancer, because not knowing how to avoid cancer is really scary. etc.

[Spartacus87]

A lot of people believe a lot of things that are wrong.

We all want to have some understanding of the REASON something bad happens. There has to be a reason, because random chance is just too frightening. There must be more to the 9/11 story, because it is really scary to think that we are that vulnerable to terrorists. There must be a connection between cell phones and brain cancer, because not knowing how to avoid cancer is really scary. etc.

This is definitely true.

But McCarthy gets the celebrity pedestal and goes on cable news outlets and day time talk shows discussing her anti-vaccine "research" and how it all correlates to her son's autism.

That's a pretty sneaky way for that overall message to be transmitted.

[daveakl]

A lot of people believe a lot of things that are wrong.

We all want to have some understanding of the REASON something bad happens. There has to be a reason, because random chance is just too frightening. There must be more to the 9/11 story, because it is really scary to think that we are that vulnerable to terrorists. There must be a connection between cell phones and brain cancer, because not knowing how to avoid cancer is really scary. etc.

For real, it's like, Obama being president as a Muslim terrorist who wasn't even born in America.

But seriously, you are 100% correct. As a parent every time one of my daughters gets a vaccine I worry somewhere deep down in my mind that in the next few weeks/months their personality may change, they may test autistic, and I will think back to this moment and wonder if I should have denied them getting the shot.

The thing is, as a parent, you worry no matter what because you want the best for your child. The idea that you can't control an outcome is scary, esp. when you do everything in your power to make sure they are safe.

It pisses me off sometimes that I do worry about it since 99.9% of me is sure there is no connection. It's that .1% that gets ya.

[daveakl]

This is definitely true.

But McCarthy gets the celebrity pedestal and goes on cable news outlets and day time talk shows discussing her anti-vaccine "research" and how it all correlates to her son's autism.

That's a pretty sneaky way for that overall message to be transmitted.

Oh she does. She goes overboard in fact. Opera, Time, etc. have helped her promote her message.

[Special K]

Doesn't Jenny McCarthy go around pushing the idea that vaccination shots caused her son's autism?

Yes. And she's an idiot.

And so are parents who don't get their children vaccinated for most infectious diseases. Sorry if it offends people, but this is a very strong belief of mine and I don't feel badly about saying that at all.

[ACW]

Oh she does. She goes overboard in fact. Opera, Time, etc. have helped her promote her message.

Oprah :pfft:

[Dan T.]

Don Imus pushed the theory of the connection between autism and vaccines pretty heavily on his radio show back before he flamed out over the Rutgers women's basketball team.

[ACW]

Surprised Mickalino has no comment...:poke:

[Bliz]

Yes. And she's an idiot.

And so are parents who don't get their children vaccinated for most infectious diseases. Sorry if it offends people, but this is a very strong belief of mine and I don't feel badly about saying that at all.

+1. Big time.

Haven't there been outbreaks of measles or something in certain areas, because kids aren't getting vaccinations?

[ACW]

Wakefield oughtta go to jail :mad:

[bcl05]

I've said it before, I'll say it again - the autism-vaccine connection liars have blood on their hands. Wakefield is scum - I'd love to see him behind bars. McCarthy is an idiot who probably believes her own crap, but she's still responsible for a great deal of harm. Children continue to die of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Vaccines are not perfect, but they are overwhelmingly a good thing. After good sanitation, they are probably the greatest public health success in the history of mankind. Ever seen a case of smallpox? Neither have I. Polio, measles, and mumps are rare enough to be reportable these days. They used to be devastating to huge numbers of people.

[Corcaigh]

Wakefield oughtta go to jail :mad:

I wonder if there's evidence to charge him with manslaughter.

[mjah]

Common sense wins!

...Yet again.

But I do feel terribly for all the kids of the awful parents who have access to vaccines and refuse them. It's one thing to be an idiot when only your own life hangs in the balance. It's quite another to be an idiot when it may kill one or more children who depend upon you.

Hmm, what to do with that syringe in the sig image now... maybe replace it with a pic of Abraham Lincoln?

[Fergasun]

We recently went through this with our daughter. She's 18 months old, which some have said is a little old for her MMR. She does have an egg allergy, so she had the shot with an allergist. I like the idea of spreading the shots out (even though it may leave them vulnerable for something like 6 months longer?), it just so happens that hers were.

My wife was freaking out over this MMR thing for 2 months or so; god bless our wives and the mother's of our children, they care so much about this type of thing and it makes them so paranoid, and dare I say, "crazy"? 2 months before the shot there was another friend of ours (they actually split the MMR shots separately, which seems more dangerous to me) and she warned my wife again and I had to go digging through this issue to see that Wakefield was discredited. Although the forums and places to discuss this for parents don't believe any of it; I read an online posting of one who said her baby came down with autism with 24 hours of getting the shot.

So I was able to calm my wife down, and then *the very day before my daughter got --the shot* she sent out a prayer request about giving the shot to our daughter, something like pray that she is calm and not crying and another mom forwarded her a "OMFGthatshotisgoingtogiveyourbabyautismI'veheldoffonmykidsshot" panic type of e-mail which once again had me searching on the Internet AGAIN to convince my wife that this shot isn't the spawn of Satan.

Even thinking about it has me annoyed again, certainly the mom's who hear about this aren't stupid; in fact my peditrician had one of the articles discrediting Wakefield in his office and highlighted. Probably because of all the misinformation. That being said he's generally a doctor who doesn't like to give much anti-biotics, but did ask us to do flu, and swine-flu. Its also things like swine-flu that don't help either.

Where's the swineflu epidemic this year?