So that which we have known or suspected for a while now has finally been laid out in exquisite and mind blowing detail with 3 articles in the British Medical Journal. The articles by Brian deer completely expose Wakefield as a ruthless conman that perpetrated a conscious, and incredibly harmful, fraud on the world in order to enrich himself.
Article one tells the story of Wakefield's study. Not only was this study woefully undersized for it's purpose. Containing just 12 subjects. Not only was it a breach of the ethical and legal responsibilities one has when conducting such research. As it now turns out it was also complete and utter bullshit. Crap. Worthless. Wakefield falsified the data and just plain lied in order to get the result he wanted. But why?
Money! Article two tells about how Wakefield planned to make tens of millions of dollars from the ideas supported in his fraudulent study.
Money making scheme number one. Wakefield was paid a substantial amount of money (more than 435,000 pounds in fact) from lawyers representing some anti vaccine groups. These were trying to sue vaccine manufactures for allegedly giving their children Autism.
Money making scheme number two. Wakefield had a patent pending on a single dose measles vaccine. Since his study alleged that it was the triple dose Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine that was the cause of the problems. He stood to make millions from the licencing and use of his single dose vaccine.
Money making scheme number three. Wakefield created a kit that was designed to detect the symptoms of the new syndrome he had invented. Sales of this product were expected to net Wakefield another few tens of millions.
Article three is the final installment and tells of the fallout from all these revelations coming to light. The accusations. The denials. And the complete down fall of Wakefield in respected medical circles.
There should be no doubt. This man shares a great amount of responsibility for the creation of the modern anti-vaccination movement. There is real blood on his hands. Children have suffered and died because of his selfish fraud.
The terrible (or delicious) irony in all this is that Dr Andrew Wakefield, the trumpeted hero and darling of the anti-vaccination movement, is the very thing they purport to despise. Whenever a Doctor, scientist or skeptic speaks out in defense of vaccines. The anti-vaxers accuse them of being on the pay roll of "big pharma". They accuse us of profiteering. Of defending the status quo because it is making us all rich. While the reality is that we are just following the science and trying to improve the health of children and the community. Wakefield was doing exactly what they accuse us of! He took money to falsify the science in order to make himself rich. He put the lives of children at risk for his own benefit. He accepted money in the form of travel, accommodation and speakers fees form pharmaceutical companies. Wakefield was a lying, cheating big pharma shill! Amazing.
The response from the anti-vax community has been typical rationalizing and conspiracy mongering. They allege that Brian Deer is a "big pharma" assassin. Brought in to discredit Wakefield and the science behind the vaccine autism link. Brian Deer is an award winning investigative journalist that, among other things, was heavily involved in exposing the vioxx scandal. In the pocket of "big pharma"? Please. Try something else for a change a. As for the science behind the vaccine Autism link. There isn't any. None at all. All the science we have says there is no link between vaccination and autism. A great summary of the evidence can be found on Science Based Medicine here.
Wakefield still stands by his study and the findings. I think he does so now because his mind has become so distorted over time that he could never bring himself to accept and admit the truth. Perhaps he has even managed to convince himself that his fraud is true. We know that he knew of his fraud at the time because he was offered the chance to repeat his study in a controlled and sanctioned environment with 150 children. He did not take this offer up because he knew that he would not be able to falsify such a large and heavily scrutinized study. As it would surely have been. And that such a study would indeed prove all his ideas and earlier findings to be wrong.
We must always be on the lookout for more Wakefields. The good thing about science is that it is self correcting. Bad science and fraud are always weeded out in the fullness of time. The bad news is that the effects of these things can linger on long after the science has thrown them out. And people can be, and are, adversely affected. In the worst cases, such as this one, children can die.
