Autism Trial
The debate on Autism and its links to vaccines has raged for years and just recently, the British doctor who sparked the scare that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism faced a hearing into charges of professional misconduct during his research.
The General Medical Council hearing, expected to last 15 weeks, revolves around the research published in the Lancet medical journal in 1998.
This claim led to fierce worldwide debate among researchers and caused a decline in MMR vaccinations leading to increased disease and some deaths.
The scientific evidence suggests that vaccines are not linked to autism but a vocal group of people remain unconvinced.
The council will not look into the scientific claims but whether Wakefield and two colleagues -- John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch -- violated a number of ethical practices during the study involving young children.
The council said it would also look into charges Dr. Wakefield was involved in and paid for advising lawyers representing children claiming to have suffered harm due to the MMR vaccine.
Dr. Wakefield also faces a charge that he acted unethically by taking blood from children at a birthday party after offering them money and without proper ethical approval.
Dr. Wakefield now works in the United States and said in a recent interview with the Observer newspaper he plans to defend himself vigorously.
"My concern is that it's biologically plausible that the MMR vaccine causes or contributes to the disease in many children, and that nothing in the science so far dissuades me from the continued need to pursue that question," Dr. Wakefield said.
The jury is still out!
The General Medical Council hearing, expected to last 15 weeks, revolves around the research published in the Lancet medical journal in 1998.
This claim led to fierce worldwide debate among researchers and caused a decline in MMR vaccinations leading to increased disease and some deaths.
The scientific evidence suggests that vaccines are not linked to autism but a vocal group of people remain unconvinced.
The council will not look into the scientific claims but whether Wakefield and two colleagues -- John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch -- violated a number of ethical practices during the study involving young children.
The council said it would also look into charges Dr. Wakefield was involved in and paid for advising lawyers representing children claiming to have suffered harm due to the MMR vaccine.
Dr. Wakefield also faces a charge that he acted unethically by taking blood from children at a birthday party after offering them money and without proper ethical approval.
Dr. Wakefield now works in the United States and said in a recent interview with the Observer newspaper he plans to defend himself vigorously.
"My concern is that it's biologically plausible that the MMR vaccine causes or contributes to the disease in many children, and that nothing in the science so far dissuades me from the continued need to pursue that question," Dr. Wakefield said.
The jury is still out!
posted by Anonymous at 6:15 AM
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