01 February 2010

Don't Read this if You're Jenny McCarthy

The British physician who first claimed a link between vaccines and autism has just had his research deemed unethical by the General Medical Council (in addition to being deemed wrong by everyone else). It now has to decide whether to revoke his medical license. From Time.com:


In a ruling on Jan. 28, The General Medical Council, which registers and regulates doctors in the U.K., ruled that [Andrew] Wakefield acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" during his research and with "callous disregard" for the children involved in his study.

It criticized Wakefield for carrying out invasive tests, such as colonoscopies and spinal taps, without due regard for how the children involved might be affected. It also cited Wakefield's method of gathering blood samples — he paid children at his son's birthday party $8 to give blood — and said that Wakefield displayed a "callous disregard for the distress and pain the children might suffer."

The panel also criticized Wakefield for failing to disclose that, while carrying out the research, he was being paid by lawyers acting for parents who believed their children had been harmed by the MMR jab.

The panel's ruling follows a refutation of Wakefield's research from the scientific community. Ten of 13 authors in the Lancet study have since renounced the study's conclusions. The Lancet has said it should not have published the study in the first place, and various other studies have failed to corroborate Wakefield's hypothesis.

Wakefield is now the Executive Director of the Thoughtful House autism center in Texas, which the Times of London recently claimed receives millions of dollars in donations each year.

2 comments:

Mark said...

Jenny will shrug it off. She claims she has her facts from "Mommy sense" and "The University of Google."

That yucky science and math stuff people who disagree with her use just makes her dizzy.

Anonymous said...

I am just happy that Lancet finally renounced the original 1998 publication - too bad it is a day late and dollar short!