Anti-vaccine doctor struck off
Source: Agencies |
May 25, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITAIN'S top medical group banned a doctor who was the first to publish peer-reviewed research suggesting a connection between a common vaccine and autism from practicing in the country, finding him guilty yesterday of serious professional misconduct.
Dr Andrew Wakefield's research led to millions of parents worldwide abandoning the shot for measles, mumps and rubella, even though the study was later widely discredited.
Wakefield, 53, then moved to the United States and set up an autism center in Texas, where he has a wide following, but faces similar skepticism from the medical community. The ruling only applies to his right to practice medicine in Britain, not in other countries.
Wakefield was not immediately available for comment. He has the right to appeal the ruling, which takes effect within 28 days.
Numerous other studies since then have not found a connection between autism and any vaccine.
Britain's General Medical Council struck Wakefield off the medical register yesterday and found him guilty of "serious professional misconduct."
The council was investigating how Wakefield and colleagues carried out their research, not the science behind it.
Wakefield and colleagues published a study in the medical journal Lancet in 1998 alleging a link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
At the time, Wakefield did not have the ethical approval to conduct the study.
Ten of the study's authors later renounced its conclusions and it was retracted by the Lancet in February.
In January, Britain's medical council ruled that Wakefield and two other doctors acted unethically and showed a "callous disregard" for the children in their study. The medical body said Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds (today worth US$7.20) each.
In Monday's ruling, the medical council said Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and "brought the medical profession into disrepute."
Dr Andrew Wakefield's research led to millions of parents worldwide abandoning the shot for measles, mumps and rubella, even though the study was later widely discredited.
Wakefield, 53, then moved to the United States and set up an autism center in Texas, where he has a wide following, but faces similar skepticism from the medical community. The ruling only applies to his right to practice medicine in Britain, not in other countries.
Wakefield was not immediately available for comment. He has the right to appeal the ruling, which takes effect within 28 days.
Numerous other studies since then have not found a connection between autism and any vaccine.
Britain's General Medical Council struck Wakefield off the medical register yesterday and found him guilty of "serious professional misconduct."
The council was investigating how Wakefield and colleagues carried out their research, not the science behind it.
Wakefield and colleagues published a study in the medical journal Lancet in 1998 alleging a link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
At the time, Wakefield did not have the ethical approval to conduct the study.
Ten of the study's authors later renounced its conclusions and it was retracted by the Lancet in February.
In January, Britain's medical council ruled that Wakefield and two other doctors acted unethically and showed a "callous disregard" for the children in their study. The medical body said Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds (today worth US$7.20) each.
In Monday's ruling, the medical council said Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and "brought the medical profession into disrepute."
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