Lancet MMR vaccine-autism report
On 28 February 1998, a research paper primarily authored by physician Andrew Wakefield, along with twelve other coauthors (titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children"), was published in The Lancet, a British leading medical journal. The paper claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis, and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data bias and manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest.
Quotes
[edit]- Since the Wakefield case, the anti-vaccine movement has been studied and exploited by many, leading it to take on a social and cultural significance that it would probably not have had without all this fuss. In other words, if you don’t give them arguments and excuses to take to the barricades, they’ll keep quiet and perhaps some of them might even get vaccinated.
- Gilberto Corbellini, from an interview by Linda Varlese, Gilberto Corbellini: "Piano con l'obbligo vaccinale, la libertà è un tema delicato", Huffingtonpost.it, 15 July 2021.
- The link with autism [...] is a complete fabrication; the doctor who put forward this claim in The Lancet [Andrew Wakefield] was struck off the medical register after admitting to having manipulated the data.
- Silvio Garattini, from an interview by Eleonora Capeli, Silvio Garattini: "Anche l'Emilia non è al riparo, bimbi a scuola solo se vaccinati", La Repubblica, 14 October 2015.
- The origin of the false link between vaccines and autism is [...] well known. It all began in 1998 when the British doctor Andrew Wakefield [...] published an article in The Lancet claiming a supposed link between the use of the MMR vaccine and the onset of autism. However, as was clearly demonstrated subsequently, Wakefield had deliberately falsified the data, in return for financial compensation, in an attempt to secure compensation for the parents of autistic children who had sued the pharmaceutical companies. All serious studies carried out have categorically refuted any link between vaccines and autism. The incidence of autism among vaccinated and unvaccinated children is, in fact, exactly the same. Due to his dishonest conduct, Wakefield was struck off the medical register and his article in The Lancet was retracted.
- Silvano Fuso, L'evoluzione della scienza, il ruolo dei vaccini e le radici storiche dei no-vax, micromega.net, 2 September 2022.
