# Doc who caused Britain's MMR scare showed "callous disregard" for children, could lose license **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 28, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783 "2010-01-28T16:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/1 "2010-01-28T16:56:01Z")
It’s a bad day for bad science and abuse of power. [From today’s Times](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7006525.ece) (U.K.): \*"The doctor who sparked the MMR controversy “showed a callous disregard” for the suffering of children and “abused his position of trust”, a disciplinary panel ruled today. Dr Andrew Wakefield’s conduct brought the medical profession “into disrepute” after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son’s birthday party in return for payments of £5. The doctor faces being struck off the medical register following the ruling from the General Medical Council (GMC)…He further acted dishonestly and was misleading and irresponsible in the way he described a study which was later published in The Lancet medical journal, the GMC said. In the late 1990s, Dr Wakefield and two other doctors said they believed they had uncovered a link between the MMR jab, bowel disease and autism. The research sparked a massive drop in the number of children given the triple jab for measles, mumps and rubella."\* Wakefield’s MMR study fell into disrepute after it was revealed that [he’d received huge payments from lawyers hoping to sue the government over the MMR vaccine](http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm), plus it came out that Wakefield was hoping to get his own, allegedly safer vaccine on the market. Predictably (and sadly), some parents of autistic children who’ve viewed Wakefield as a hero heckled the disciplinary panel and declared Wakefield the victim of a “set-up”. Expect American groups like Age of Autism and other antivaxers to echo conspiracy theories and remain in denial about Wakefield’s abuse of his patients and of science. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/2 "2010-01-28T17:11:55Z")
Sadly, this does nothing to either restrain or chastise the McCartney woman. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/3 "2010-01-28T17:12:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s a bad day for bad science and abuse of power. I don’t think so. The fact that he’s been exposed and faces losing his medical license suggests that it’s actually a pretty good day. ETA: OK, i guess i could have misread your sentence. It is, indeed, a bad day for people who support bad science and the abuse of power. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/4 "2010-01-28T17:13:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Expect American groups like Age of Autism and other antivaxers to echo conspiracy theories and remain in denial about Wakefield’s abuse of his patients and of science. Yup. They’re going to talk about the efforts to “silence” him. Normally people would freak the hell out if there was a revelation of data being skewed for profit, but here, the crackpot theory in question provides an “answer” to a terrible disease that we are only beginning to understand. I can’t entirely blame people for believing it at first, but now? It puts others at serious risk for infectious diseases we had assumed we’d more or less beaten. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/5 "2010-01-28T17:21:31Z")
Autism is really scary stuff. So far as I know, this guy is the first person to offer an explanation for it. Having an “answer” is really compelling, so I don’t blame the autism-MMR-link crowd for latching on to this guy. The alternative is “we really don’t know what the fuck is going on,” which is very difficult to accept. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/6 "2010-01-28T17:25:17Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Autism is really scary stuff. So far as I know, this guy is the first person to offer an explanation for it. Having an “answer” is really compelling, so I don’t blame the autism-MMR-link crowd for latching on to this guy. The alternative is “we really don’t know what the fuck is going on,” which is very difficult to accept. I don’t blame them for latching on to him originally. I blame the fuck out of them for not repudiating their original positions after it was revealed what a callous, self-serving douchebag he was, and how biased his study conclusions were. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/7 "2010-01-28T17:32:31Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > So far as I know, this guy is the first person to offer an explanation for it. I STRONGLY suggest that you do a bit more research before popping off with a statement like the above. I don’t know much about Autism, but I do know that you’re quite wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/8 "2010-01-28T17:54:05Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I STRONGLY suggest that you do a bit more research before popping off with a statement like the above. I don’t know much about Autism, but I do know that you’re quite wrong here. I don;t think Mosier’s post suggested that the offered explanation was correct; merely that it was offered and latched onto by desperate people, which is exactly what happened. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/9 "2010-01-28T17:55:40Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I STRONGLY suggest that you do a bit more research before popping off with a statement like the above. I don’t know much about Autism, but I do know that you’re quite wrong here. Yeah. The only good thing I can think of to write about Wakefield is that he was an improvement on the whole [refrigerator mother](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refrigerator_mother) theory of autism. Unfortunately this will not dissuade the anti-vax nuts at all. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/10 "2010-01-28T18:01:18Z")
A good story, until you get near the end. > [@](#): > > As he delivered the verdicts, Dr Surendra Kumar, the panel’s chairman, was repeatedly heckled by distraught parents who support Dr Wakefield and his former colleagues. One woman shouted: “These doctors have not failed our children. You are outrageous.” She called the panel of experts “b\*\*\*\*\*\*s” and accused the GMC of being a “kangaroo court”. Wake. The fuck. Up. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/11 "2010-01-28T18:08:08Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > A good story, until you get near the end. > Wake. The fuck. Up. It’s not going to happen. They have too much vested in this theory to walk away from it. FYI, our brand new New Jersey governor had this to say about the vaccines and autism connection while campaigning: > [@](#): > > [Adventures in Autism: Chris Christie Supporing Parental Choice in Vaccination in his Bid for Governor of NJ](http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2009/10/chris-christie-supporing-parental.html) > > Christie supports vaccination choice. He wrote the following letter of support on Campaign letterhead, to the vaccination choice and special needs communities. He states: Many of these families have expressed their concern over New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation vaccine mandates. I stand with them now, and will stand with them as their governor, in the fight for greater parental involvement in vaccination decisions that affect their children. > > He went on Imus in the Morning this past Thursday and said: "We need to look at all the different things affecting autism in New Jersey because we have the highest rate in the country. Not just the environmental concerns but vaccinations. Parents of children with autism need to be heard, they need a seat at the table to be talking about these issues. > > I met with a number of these parents, I’ve spoken to them about the awful time they’ve had. They need to have somebody who is going to them. And I’m going to listen to their concerns and try to make things better. But clean up the environment is one of the ways. Be more environmentaly sensitive in terms of the other toxins that we put into our environment. And also dealing with the vaccination issue is important…" These parents HAVE been heard. Over and over and over again. They need to STFU and stop endangering public health. If NJ does indeed have the highest autism rates in the country it’s probably because of many other factors such as high income rates, high access to social services and our well known pollution problems. It is not because we protect our kids from the measles, whooping cough or diphtheria. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/12 "2010-01-28T18:31:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Sadly, this does nothing to either restrain or chastise the McCartney woman. Maybe I’m being over-optimistic, but - might it not? I mean, my understanding is that McCartney isn’t making huge amounts of money off her schtick. She’s profoundly wrong, but she’s _sincere_ in her belief that she’s acting for the greater good. It’s not impossible that seeing, in effect, the founder of her movement proven _wrong_ might cause her to rethink things. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/13 "2010-01-28T18:31:33Z")
As expected - Age of Autism (a group that has fallen deep down the rabbit hole of [antivaccine activism](http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2009/12/age-of-autism-abandon-pretence), and promotes know-nothings like Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey), has recognized the damage the Wakefield decision has done to their cause, and is doing [a full-blown spin campaign](http://www.ageofautism.com/) to try to minimize the damage. Among their claims - poor Dr. Wakefield has been victimized by “false testimony” - and that Wakefield’s “science” has been vindicated (the study they cite does no such thing). Truly, there’s nothing more that can be done to convince these people that their singleminded obsession with vaccines has no basis. It’s past time to focus more effort on clarifying the true causes of autism (including genetics) and to stop hurting kids (both those who need vaccine protection from infectious diseases, and autistic kids who are being victimized by bogus treatments claimed to reverse “vaccine injury”). ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/14 "2010-01-28T19:21:18Z")
Thanks for alerting me to this. I will spread the news among my crunchy friends, in hopes that the less loony ones will take it into account. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/15 "2010-01-28T20:38:39Z")
Moved to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/16 "2010-01-28T20:46:37Z")
Good, I hope he loses his license and worse. I don’t throw the word hate around lightly, but I do hate this man for all the needless harm he’s done in the world. Not only did his foolish proclamations not help children with Autism, there’s all the kids who have died from his making their parents afraid to vaccinate them, and worse kids who can’t be immunized who have died due to the other kids’ parents chipping away at herd immunity that might have protected them. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/17 "2010-01-28T20:47:11Z")
By the way, Dr. Wakefield could shrug off any potential action against his ability to practice in the U.K. - since he’s pulling down a hefty salary at [Thoughtful House](http://www.thoughtfulhouse.org/)\*, a Texas-based organization that says it offers clinical and research services related to autism. He at last report did not have a license to practice medicine in the U.S., but allegedly has been present when patients were being seen by practitioners at his clinic (a potential violation of the law according to [this article](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5728998.ece)). Thoughtful House’s activities include promulgating anti-vaccine ideology and research that appears designed to support Wakefield’s theories about “vaccine toxicity”. He’s our problem now. \*Irony meters go haywire. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/18 "2010-01-28T21:31:27Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > It’s not going to happen. They have too much vested in this theory to walk away from it. > > If NJ does indeed have the highest autism rates in the country it’s probably because of many other factors such as high income rates, high access to social services and our well known pollution problems. > > It is not because we protect our kids from the measles, whooping cough or diphtheria. **LavenderBlue** , you might be interested in this, if you haven’t already seen it. [http://www.blisstree.com/articles/autism-is-an-epidemic-new-jersey-is-toxic-and-other-urban-myths/](http://www.blisstree.com/articles/autism-is-an-epidemic-new-jersey-is-toxic-and-other-urban-myths/) It seems to be because New Jersey is very aware of Autism Spectrum Disorders and does a lot to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/19 "2010-01-28T21:34:29Z")
Unfortunately, **Jackmannii** , Wakefield’s study only fell into disrepute with people who are actually willing to think about it rationally. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/20 "2010-01-28T22:43:38Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Maybe I’m being over-optimistic, but - might it not? I mean, my understanding is that McCartney isn’t making huge amounts of money off her schtick. She’s profoundly wrong, but she’s _sincere_ in her belief that she’s acting for the greater good. It’s not impossible that seeing, in effect, the founder of her movement proven _wrong_ might cause her to rethink things. I know a man who honestly, truly believed that the appropriate way to deal with his ten-year-old son wetting the bed is to beat him with a belt each time he does it. The sincerity of his belief, and the fact that he truly did love the son in question, does not make the consequences of this abuse any less dire. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783.md?page=2)