# Pitch in to Help Andrew Wakefield’s Defense Fund! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 24, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815 "2012-02-24T06:20:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/1 "2012-02-24T06:20:26Z")
No joke—[check it out](http://www.ageofautism.com/2012/02/youre-invited-long-beach-california-fundraising-event-for-dr-andrew-wakefield-legal-defense-fund.html)! Only $100 a plate! Gift bag valued at over 50 bucks (that’s a signed copy of Jenny’s book with dust jacket in “very good” condition, and a year’s supply of acidophilus pills)! Kids under 12 get a pony ride, balloon animals, and a free colonoscopy! ---
**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:** [February 24, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/2 "2012-02-24T13:47:53Z")
A [reality-based view here](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/02/andrew_wakefield_hits_up_his_supporters.php#more). It always amazes me how people enmeshed in the consequences of their pseudoscience and quackery can maintain legions of supporters, by crying persecution and conspiracy. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/3 "2012-02-24T14:05:27Z")
Maybe I can do something in his honor instead, like get a vaccination. Any suggestions from the other healthcare worker members? (Age 41, got a TDaP booster last year, HepB series a decade ago, influenza shots yearly.) ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/4 "2012-02-24T14:18:54Z")
I agree with **Ferret Herder**. I’m currently finishing my HepB series, so I’ll let that stand as my contribution. As for suggestions, you’re still younger than the guidelines, but there’s always pneumococcus or zoster. Or get a travel vaccine and go for yellow fever! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/5 "2012-02-24T14:27:31Z")
And if anyone is curious about just how crooked Wakefield is, Brian Deer wrote a series of investigative pieces for the British Medical Journal that are wonderful and terrifying: [The genesis of “autistic enterocolitis”](http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c1127) [The basic research fraud in the original paper](http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347) [How this made Wakefield rich](http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5258) [The Lancet’s unexcusable response once they knew the article was fraudulent](http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7001) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/6 "2012-02-24T14:51:27Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > [The Lancet’s unexcusable response once they knew the article was fraudulent](http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7001) Holy crap, that’s absolutely shocking. A long read but worth it. How can Horton retain his position after that? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/7 "2012-02-24T15:58:26Z")
Is anyone else taken by the irony of Wakefield’s “defence fund” financing his prosecution of Brian Deer? This is no more a legal defence than his insinuations that MMR vaccine caused autism were a scientific proof. I need a word to describe how I feel about this: it’s somewhere between amusement and infuriation, with an element of outrage and a hint of depression. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/8 "2012-02-24T16:04:00Z")
I’d be happy to “pitch in.” Anyone know where I can get some stink bombs? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/9 "2012-02-24T17:05:15Z")
Find 100 kids with autistic enterocolitis and feed them all macho-sized bean burritos. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/10 "2012-02-24T17:44:25Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’d be happy to “pitch in.” Anyone know where I can get some stink bombs? I was going to suggest piching a rock, but I guess you’re more ambitious than I am. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/11 "2012-02-24T18:01:21Z")
I’ve already had all the standard shots, including a DTaP booster and the current flu shot. And I’ve had all the travel ones as well, courtesy of Uncle Sam’s Yacht Club. Maybe I’ll get the sprog a shot as my contribution to the cause. He’ll love that! [sub]He takes his shots like a woman because I’ve made sure he knows that a quick jab with a needle and maybe a day of a sore arm and feeling icky is a hell of a lot better than the diseases the shots are for. He also knows about Jenny McCarthy; specifically that she’s an idiot. I’m so proud of him![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/12 "2012-02-24T19:12:41Z")
Donate to your locale children’s immunization program in Wakefield’s name, just to piss him and his brainwashed supporters off. Or to the [Autism Science Foundation.](http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/) And then be sure to email him or post on his [Legal Fund website](http://www.drwakefieldjusticefund.org/) that you did so. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/13 "2012-02-24T19:22:02Z")
The link in the OP referred to “Dr. Andrew Wakefield”. I thought he lost his medical license. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/14 "2012-02-24T19:32:58Z")
He did, but his supporters insist on still using the title “Dr.” when referring to him. After all, he was the victim of a vicious Big Pharma-organized witchhunt, so they do not recognize the decision of the British GMC as valid. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/15 "2012-02-24T21:18:23Z")
He claims that he still has the education and that can’t be taken away from him, so he still gets to use the title. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/16 "2012-02-24T22:27:05Z")
That’s like saying that they can’t revoke my driving privileges for drunk driving, because I already know how to drive. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/17 "2012-02-24T22:28:30Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > That’s like saying that they can’t revoke my driving privileges for drunk driving, because I already know how to drive. :dubious: Yeah, but I doubt any drunk driver is responsible for as much suffering and death as Wakefield, so… there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/18 "2012-02-24T22:33:47Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > Donate to your locale children’s immunization program in Wakefield’s name, just to piss him and his brainwashed supporters off. Or to the [Autism Science Foundation.](http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/) And then be sure to email him or post on his [Legal Fund website](http://www.drwakefieldjusticefund.org/) that you did so. This is a great idea. I’ve done just that. $10 to the Autism Science Foundation, and a friendly message on Wakefield’s website letting him know about the donation made in his name. Edit: The comment is queued for moderation. Wonder if it will ever show up on the site. Somehow I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/19 "2012-02-24T22:54:34Z")
Contribute $100 to some discredited quack? Eh, whatever. The dress code is _California casual_? Seriously? That shit is just unacceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815/20 "2012-02-24T23:03:47Z")
I think I’d be a bit concerned just spending time in a room with hundreds of people guaranteed to not be vaccinated. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitch-in-to-help-andrew-wakefield-s-defense-fund/613815.md?page=2)