Journal says doctor faked data linking autism to vaccines

washingtonpost.com ^ | January 6, 2011 | Reuters

[Berlin_Freeper]

The British Medical Journal on Wednesday accused a disgraced British doctor of committing an "elaborate fraud" by faking data in his studies linking vaccines with autism.

Andrew Wakefield's work convinced thousands of parents that vaccines are dangerous. Such fears have not only caused parents to skip vaccinations for their children, which critics say has led to ongoing outbreaks of measles and mumps, but have forced costly reformulations of many vaccines.

[cricket]

I want to see the “autism spectrum” diagnoses debunked as well; this has been applied quite loosely, in order for parents to collect supplemental social security and for schools to collect funds for a “handicapped” child. White welfare hoax...

Yes...

Fraud not limited to greedy scientists/trial lawyers, corporations. . .

[jim_trent]

Wakefields research was “fake, but accurate”. That is the new standard nowadays.

[kearnyirish2]

I’d suspect somewhere a corporation is selling the fake medicine to treat the fake illness (and I don’t think corporations are evil; they are as good or bad as their owners: the stockholders). Not that I mind somebody making a profit, but this fraud costs every taxpayer a ton of money.

[dayglored]

> ...can someone explain how exactly the vaccinated are harmed by the un-vaccinated... If the anti vaccine people are wrong aren’t they the ones who pay the price for their belief?

Simple. Let's say "A" doesn't get vaccinated.

Case 1: "A" stays healthy. Friend/co-worker "B" doesn't catch anything from "A". Everybody's happy.

Case 2: "A" gets sick. "B" doesn't catch it from "A". This is the case you are thinking of.

Case 3: "A" gets sick. "B" catches it from "A". This is the problem. Infectious diseases spread, it's what they do.

The point of vaccines is BOTH: to protect the individual, and to protect society from large-scale outbreaks. If you focus only on the individual, your statement makes sense. If you include the effect on the rest of the people, you will see the reason for the pro-vaccine people's intensity.

Outbreaks of disease cost lives, money, productivity, cause immense suffering, unrest, etc. It's not just a case of sniffles.

At least that the rationale I've heard...

[neverdem]

How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed

This is a FReebie from BMJ. You might have to register, not subscribe, to access it. Incorrigible, thanks for the ping.