Parents of autistic children suffer due to discredited research on vaccines: Journalist
Posted February 14, 2011 10:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – A British journalist who spent seven years investigating a study that triggered fears about autism being linked to the M-M-R vaccine says parents of children with autism have suffered because of the widely discredited research.
Last month, the British Medical Journal published three articles by Brian Deer, along with an editorial declaring the 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield a fraud.
The Lancet, which published the original paper about 12 developmentally challenged children, retracted it last year, saying that several elements were incorrect.
Deer, who’s visiting Toronto, says parents of children with autism have blamed themselves for letting their kids have the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.
He says he thinks falsehoods that have been spun to them are appalling.
Among other things, Deer’s analysis found that five children had developmental problems before getting the M-M-R shot, even though the research paper described them as being normal before the shot.
Wakefield lost his licence to practise medicine in Britain, but continues to defend the research.
