# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [May 24, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/61 "2010-05-24T13:46:21Z")
He [resigned from his post](http://www.statesman.com/news/local/british-doctor-resigns-as-head-of-austin-autism-251756.html) as executive director of the autism quack-treatment center he founded in Austin, TX in February, following the GMC’s original finding. Unfortunately, there are apparently plenty of other idiots left at Thoughtful House to continue spreading the disease (although from what I can tell they combine crackpottery with real medicine). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/62 "2010-05-24T13:47:20Z")
Cue Nelson Munce! ---
**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:** [May 24, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/63 "2010-05-24T13:49:38Z")
_points at Wakefield_ Ha-HA! _points at **Paul in Qatar** _ It’s _Muntz._ Ha-HA! ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/64 "2010-05-24T15:27:04Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > This will, of course, be regarded as further proof of a conspiracy by the medical-industrial complex. He said on the Today show this morning that the outcome of the hearing was “determined from the beginning.” Of course, he also said that the U. S. government has been quietly settling cases of vaccine injury for hears. According to him, the government is conceding these cases in vaccine court. He just lives totally outside of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/65 "2010-05-24T15:47:17Z")
Doctor Who caused Britain’s MMR scare? :eek: No wonder it’s on a tape delay here in the states! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/66 "2010-05-24T16:18:15Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Wakefield deserves to go down in history as a buffoon or an evil psychopath who deliberately endangered millions of childen’s lives for his own ego. I haven’t yet decided which. Could be both, of course. Neither. He did it for _money_, pure and simple, like most other crimes. No other explanation is needed, once you learn that he was _both_ getting payoffs from lawyers _and_ marketing a competing system. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/67 "2010-05-24T16:20:58Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > He said on the Today show this morning that the outcome of the hearing was “determined from the beginning.” Well, that’s true, in the sense that the facts were always going to show that he was a tool. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/68 "2010-05-24T19:58:43Z")
If anyone wants to investigate Doc W. further, I’d like to recommend a recent book, [Autism’s False Prophets,](http://www.amazon.com/Autisms-False-Prophets-Science-Medicine/dp/023114637X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274730962&sr=1-1) by Paul Offit, MD. Well written, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/69 "2010-05-24T23:06:12Z")
Sayonara, you evil lying unethical psychopathic bastard. Screw you for causing the preventable deaths of children in order to line your own pockets. If there is a deity out there interested in justice, I hope you suffer the fate that you deserve. What I’d LIKE you to suffer is something I probably should not type out on this board. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/70 "2010-05-24T23:25:21Z")
I was really pleased to hear about this. I say that as the mother of an autistic child who was born after the scandal. I don’t think the MMR=autism hype helped with research into the causes of autism at all; the increasing number of diagnoses\* would have garnered more attention anyway, and perhaps that autism research money would have been spent in more helpful ways than repeatedly rebutting one tiny, unethical and inconclusive study. \*Mostly down to reclassification rather than an actual increase in the number of autistic people; in the past those on the more obvious end of the spectrum were often named retarded, then institutionalised and ignored, and those on the less obvious end were just considered odd or given some other diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/71 "2010-05-25T18:03:34Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > As has been mentioned, it’s understandable that parents with suffering children will latch on to the one “explanation” available, but why was that opinion allowed to take such sway? Well, people already covered the media part of this equation, but I think another part is just general weakmindedness on the part of the public. The value of expertise is diminished - people don’t trust experts to know what they’re actually doing. They think they somehow know better with their folksy wisdom or their “mommy instinct”. They believe whatever they want to believe, and conspiracy theories appeal to a lot of people. And make no mistake, this is absolutely a conspiracy theory, just as much as NASA faking the moon landings. They think that the people in charge of Evil Western Medicine know absolutely that vaccines cause these problems, but that they cover it up in order to get Evil Corporate Profits, even though vaccination is probably the lowest profit sector of the medical industry. Which is exactly why stuff like this doesn’t matter. Come out with a well conducted study with millions of people that proves no link? CONSPIRACY! British medical board discredits wakefield? CONSPIRACY! Once you enter the mindset that evidence that discredits your point of view actually helps you, since it proves there’s a conspiracy out to get you, there’s no chance of convincing you of anything. You’re in full blown retard mode. > [@thirdwarning](#): > > Of course, he also said that the U. S. government has been quietly settling cases of vaccine injury for hears. According to him, the government is conceding these cases in vaccine court. He just lives totally outside of reality. This is actually true but misleading. Rarely people do actually have bad reactions to vaccines and it can cause medical problems - but it is totally unrelated to autism. But since the government heavily incentives vaccinations (mandatory for public school and such) they created a fund to compensate people with legitimate vaccine injuries. This is only a very very tiny fraction of vaccine cases, and the reactions are things that medical science understands. It has nothing to do with the vaccine/autism nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/72 "2010-05-25T18:37:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > _points at Wakefield_ > > Ha-HA! > > _points at **Paul in Qatar** _ > > It’s _Muntz._ Ha-HA! _points at **Really Not All That Bright** _ It’s _HA-Ha._ HA-Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/73 "2010-05-26T01:43:13Z")
Ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha … ha-ha-ha-HAA-ha … ha-ha-ha-ha Rhythm, Kickin’ it old school ---
**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:** [May 26, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/74 "2010-05-26T02:03:06Z")
_D’oh!_ ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doc-who-caused-britains-mmr-scare-showed-callous-disregard-for-children-could-lose-license/526783/75 "2010-05-26T02:28:21Z")
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