In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a now discredited British physician and anti-vaccination advocate, published an extremely controversial- and now retracted- paper claiming there was a link between autism and vaccinations. He unethically gathered 12 children for his cohort, from his son’s birthday party by paying them five pounds each for a blood sample. Wakefield’s findings were largely based on parental recall and beliefs- not scientific evidence- making his study unable to be recreated and tested with to confirm his findings. His motives for producing such a statement were thought to have been the result of being funded by lawyers involved in lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers and looking for evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers.
It wasn’t until 12 years after his initial release that the Lancet officially revoked the publication of the article due to ethical concerns. Clear evidence of falsification was found in every single case, varying from misrepresentation to undisclosed alteration. On top of falsifying documents and results the coauthors seemed to be completely unaware of his motives and operations under their licenses and reputations. His treatment of the children partaking in the study were also deemed unethical. Wakefield however, was not initially a poor scientist and doctor for early in his career he discovered that blockage of blood flow to the intestine was the cause of Crohn’s disease. However, he used the opportunity to study the link between autism and vaccines to push his own agenda, theorizing that the measles vaccine could cause inflammation in the intestines, allowing harmful proteins to make their way to the brain through “leaky gut syndrome.”
Immediately after the false publication a public health scare hit with the uptake of vaccines dropping below 80%. 2019 hit the greatest number of cases seen for the measles since 1992. Since Andrew Wakefield’s publication and recent move to Texas, the rates for vaccination in Texas have gone down due to his continued advocation for anti-vaccination. In the decade after his move to Austin, the state capital, the rate of students who have opted out of at least one vaccine has doubled for “philosophical reasons.”
jill and micro 