Junk science plays on fear | Bangkok Post: opinion

EDITORIAL

Less than two years ago, a US court threw out a lawsuit by three families seeking damages for their children's autism. The suit contended that doctors and hospitals had caused autism by giving the children vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

The judge ruled there was no evidence that the vaccinations were involved in any manner with the distress of the children. It turns out he was correct. The only source to claim that vaccinations caused autism was a British physician, whose study and career both have been shown to be fraudulent.

The study was written by then-doctor Anthony Wakefield in 1998, while he was a consultant at London's Royal Free Hospital. There is strong evidence to back up charges that he fiddled with actual evidence to produce a result that would be profitable to him. In fact, in the wake of his bombastic report there were lawsuits in many countries against governments, hospitals, physicians and drug companies. Parents demanded tens of millions in damages. Many lawyers, including some who helped Mr Wakefield, became wealthy.