It was a scientific paper heard around the world; especially the world of autism. And now the British medical journal The Lancet has retracted its 1998 article saying that vaccinations could increase a child’s risk of autism.
The original research, published by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, studied 12 children and concluded that the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine – commonly referred to as MMR – could weaken the immune system and leave it open to the development of autism.
In late January, however, the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council found that Wakefield had acted unethically during the research, saying that he had known that half the children in the study were already part of a lawsuit looking into the MMR vaccine’s effects. Wakefield had claimed that the children had all been referred to him for stomach problems.
Wakefield also received payment in conjunction with the lawsuit, and had a patent for a new MMR vaccine in development when he submitted his research.
Here’s what the retraction in the Lancet said Wednesday:
"Following the judgment of the U.K. General Medical Council's Fitness to Practice Panel … it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect ... 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. Therefore we fully retract this paper from the published record."
"The Lancet is an enormously prestigious journal with worldwide circulation, so its action of repudiation is very important," Dr. William Schaffner, chair of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine's Department of Preventive Medicine in Nashville, Tenn, told ABC News. "The retraction puts another nail in the coffin of this awful, painfully erroneous study."
More from the story:
“The retraction is unlikely to close the Pandora's Box that the Wakefield study opened, other vaccination experts said.
"Unfortunately, the idea that vaccines cause autism is already out there and the damage has already been done," said Robert Field, professor of Health Management and Policy at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia. "Years of research have clearly disproven a vaccine-autism link, yet many people continue to believe in it. If all of that research hasn't changed their minds, the Lancet's retraction is not likely to make much difference."
From the New York Times:
“But the retraction may do little to tarnish Dr. Wakefield’s reputation among parents’ groups in the United States. Despite a wealth of scientific studies that have failed to find any link between vaccines and autism, the parents fervently believe that their children’s mental problems resulted from vaccinations.
Jim Moody, a director of SafeMinds, a parents’ group that advances the notion the vaccines cause autism, told the Times that the retraction would strengthen Dr. Wakefield’s credibility with many parents.
“Attacking scientists and attacking doctors is dangerous,” he said. “This is about suppressing research, and it will fuel the controversy by bringing it all up again.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Are you still worried that vaccinations could be linked to autism? Or do you accept the fact that the study was flawed and the results have been retracted?
The ABC News story:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AutismNews/lancet-retracts-controversial-autism-paper/story?id=9730805&page=1
The New York Times story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/health/research/03lancet.html
A link to The Lancet:
http://www.thelancet.com/