Feb. 10, 2010 - Issue #747: Abnormal Growth
Well, Well, Well
Wakefield a witch-hunt?
The Lancet retracts study connecting vaccines to autism
It has been cause for celebration among vaccine proponents: The Lancet has
retracted Dr. Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet paper suggesting a connection
between the MMR vaccine, bowel disease and autism. Wakefield, a
gastroenterologist, has been accused of unethical and dishonest
behaviour.
Media stories present it as a victorious end to the vaccine-autism
controversy. But Melanie Phillips, who has been reporting and investigating
this story for many years, and who has interviewed and consulted experts on
both sides of the issue, has called the campaign against Wakefield a
witch-hunt.
Where's the truth?
To provide a little context, Wakefield and his colleagues published the first
phase of a study comparing vaccinated primates with unvaccinated controls in
neurotoxicology three months ago. The study showed that the severity of
autism is strongly linked to the relative body burden of toxic metals.
Wakefield and his colleagues are now on the brink of publishing the
subsequent phases of their research, which followed the monkeys through
standard vaccination schedules over a longer period of time, and the results,
those on the inside have said, are equally damning.
It's easy to see why discrediting Wakefield would be a good move for the
industry.
What about the alleged unethical behaviour? Wakefield represented three of
the children in his Lancet paper as having regressive autism, when they in
fact had Asperger's syndrome. To an observer, this is hairsplitting:
Asperger's is generally seen as an autism spectrum disorder. He had also been
accused of recruiting the children he used in his research, suggesting he
planted the connection between their illness and the vaccine. But in reality
the families came to his hospital because they'd heard they might find
someone willing to listen.
According to his detractors, Wakefield created the appearance of a link
between MMR and autism when he should have known there is no reasonable basis
for it. But given that there is a known link between measles and brain
damage, and one between mercury and brain damage, and given that the parents
who came to him had observed a link between their children's regression and
their vaccination, it's inaccurate to say he created a link. It would be much
more accurate to say he observed a link, and being a responsible physician
with a scientific mind, chose to pursue that link.
But because he has given voice to the parents who believe their children have
been harmed by vaccination, he is being held responsible for new measles
outbreaks. But measles outbreaks occur in schools everywhere, even among the
vaccinated.
All this must be understood in context of the bigger, ongoing controversy and
several key voices. Upon reviewing the quality of most of the major studies
upon which claims of MMR safety are based, Dr. Thomas Jefferson and his
colleagues at the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that "the design and
reporting of safety outcomes in MMR vaccine studies, both pre- and
post-marketing, is largely inadequate."
Bernadine Healy, former head of the National Institute of Health (NIH), has
told CBS news that when she first began to consider the possibility of an
autism/vaccine link she dismissed it as impossible and foolish. But once she
started looking closely at the basic science and the research that's been
done in animals she had to conclude the question has not been answered, and
that public health officials have been too quick to dismiss the potential
connection as irrational.
Our faith in corporate communications is astounding, really, given the fact
that industry must put the shareholder first, that lawsuits are considered
the cost of doing business and that harmful drugs are not pulled from the
market until they have become clearly harmful for business.
There is a common theme to these kinds of stories: dissenters are ignored,
and if they are compelling enough, they are hung out to dry. But we will
never know the extent or nature of a possible vaccine/autism link if we
silence the voices of those who are wary. V
More stories in front »
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