The End of a Paper That Linked Autism to a Vaccine
It’s been more than a decade since the Lancet published a study that looked at 12 children and suggested a possible link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
Today, the Lancet formally retracted the paper, a few days after a British panel said the lead author’s conduct was “irresponsible” and “misleading.”
In its retraction, the Lancet said the paper’s claim that the patients had been “consecutively referred” to physicians was false. Instead, blood was taken from children at a birthday party, and they were paid £5 each, according to the panel.
Also, the lead author received £50,000 in research funding from solicitors acting for parents who believed that their children had been harmed by MMR. But the author, Andrew Wakefield, didn’t disclose that funding as a potential conflict of interest, the Times of London notes.
“I am extremely disappointed by the outcome of todays proceedings,” Wakefield said last week after the panel reached its conclusion, according to the Times. “The allegations against me and my colleagues are unfounded and unjust and I invite anyone to examine the contents of these proceedings and come to their own conclusions.” He didn’t immediately return a call from the WSJ today.
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