Study Linking Autism to Vaccine Retracted
Deputy Commander of Coast Guard Sector New York Capt. Gregory Hitchen speaks during a news conference in New York, Tuesday, June 12, 2012. The Coast Guard says a reported explosion on a motor yacht off central New Jersey likely was a hoax and that an extensive search and rescue operation cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) / Seth Wenig
Updated 3:48 p.m. EST
A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease.
The retraction by The Lancet comes a day after a competing medical journal, BMJ, issued an embargoed commentary calling for The Lancet to formally retract the study. The commentary was to have been published on Wednesday.
The BMJ commentary said once the study by British surgeon and medical researcher Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues appeared in 1998 in The Lancet, "the arguments were considered by many to be proven and the ghastly social drama of the demon vaccine took on a life of its own."
Since the controversial paper was published, British parents abandoned the vaccine in droves, leading to a resurgence of measles. Subsequent studies have found no proof that the vaccine is connected to autism, though some parents are still wary of the shot.
Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania who has long advocated for the value of vaccines, told CBS News' Amy Burkholder that the study "should never have been published" and that the retraction is "too little too late."
Read more about Offit and the controversial vaccine-autism link
He said Lancet editors are responsible for the deaths of children who died as a result of failure to vaccinate.
In Britain, vaccination rates for measles have never recovered and there are outbreaks of the disease every year.
Ten of Wakefield's 13 co-authors renounced the study's conclusions several years ago and The Lancet has previously said it should never have published the research.
"We fully retract this paper from the published record," Lancet editors said in a statement Tuesday.
Last week, Britain's General Medical Council ruled that Wakefield had shown a "callous disregard" for the children used in his study and acted unethically. Wakefield and the two colleagues who have not renounced the study face being stripped of their right to practice medicine in Britain.
For the study, Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds each ($8) for their contributions and later joking about the incident.
Wakefield said in a statement that the "allegations against me and against my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust," but would not agree to be interviewed.
Geraldine Dawson, the chief science officer Autism Speaks, a leading autism organization in the U.S. said, "We are committed to funding science that is rigorous and stands up to independent scrutiny in order to ensure that families and individuals with autism, and practitioners can rely on scientific findings with confidence."
© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease.
The retraction by The Lancet comes a day after a competing medical journal, BMJ, issued an embargoed commentary calling for The Lancet to formally retract the study. The commentary was to have been published on Wednesday.
The BMJ commentary said once the study by British surgeon and medical researcher Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues appeared in 1998 in The Lancet, "the arguments were considered by many to be proven and the ghastly social drama of the demon vaccine took on a life of its own."
Since the controversial paper was published, British parents abandoned the vaccine in droves, leading to a resurgence of measles. Subsequent studies have found no proof that the vaccine is connected to autism, though some parents are still wary of the shot.
Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania who has long advocated for the value of vaccines, told CBS News' Amy Burkholder that the study "should never have been published" and that the retraction is "too little too late."
Read more about Offit and the controversial vaccine-autism link
He said Lancet editors are responsible for the deaths of children who died as a result of failure to vaccinate.
In Britain, vaccination rates for measles have never recovered and there are outbreaks of the disease every year.
Ten of Wakefield's 13 co-authors renounced the study's conclusions several years ago and The Lancet has previously said it should never have published the research.
"We fully retract this paper from the published record," Lancet editors said in a statement Tuesday.
Last week, Britain's General Medical Council ruled that Wakefield had shown a "callous disregard" for the children used in his study and acted unethically. Wakefield and the two colleagues who have not renounced the study face being stripped of their right to practice medicine in Britain.
For the study, Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds each ($8) for their contributions and later joking about the incident.
Wakefield said in a statement that the "allegations against me and against my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust," but would not agree to be interviewed.
Geraldine Dawson, the chief science officer Autism Speaks, a leading autism organization in the U.S. said, "We are committed to funding science that is rigorous and stands up to independent scrutiny in order to ensure that families and individuals with autism, and practitioners can rely on scientific findings with confidence."
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How and why would the the knowing addition of any mercury derivative to anything meant to be put in the body be acceptable to anyone? I wouldn't revel in the fact that this study has been retracted.
I keep hearing it is a genetic disorder or link...where is the evidence? I have an autistic child age 16 (very mild case) who has a twin of opposite sex who is not. Yes they received all of their vaccinations. 14 years later, I have an unexpected blessing whom has had most vaccines, but they have been separated out. I want to see the data to make an informed decision for my self. I watched a perfectly normal little boy(my first son) change over night. (video footage to back up my story) There is no genetic history of autism in either of our families.
That's okay... When your kids infects others with a communicable and potentially deadly disease for which a vaccine is available and you refused to get it, you can deal with the lawsuits."
LOL good luck filing a lawsuit there, that's the most ridiculous statement I ever saw.
So what has caused the massive surge of autism? I am not sure that odd blood sampling methods are enough to throw out the conclusion. I for 1 have had all my vaccines and consider Edward Jenner a great man but something is playing havoc with the children in the western industialised, vaccinated, nations. If not vaccines what then?
As many scientists have explained in recent years the increase in autism isn't actually an increase in the condition itself but rather an increase in the ability to detect it and a change in what we consider to be autism.
Should be a wake up call to those so willing to accept all the climate change "consensus" without at least some questioning about motivation, integrity, etc. and without bashing anyone who has the termerity to ask tough questions about climate info. Just ask the U.N. about their so called "expert" report on climate. There may well be climate changes (as opposed to short term weather changes or misreading of data) and it may even be caused or affected by humans, but to blindly accept Al Gore's interpretation does a disservice to everyone. Think its not possible? Anyone remember the "consensus" that silicon breast implants caused cancer/other auto immune diseases?
So what has caused the massive surge of autism? I am not sure that odd blood sampling methods are enough to throw out the conclusion. I for 1 have had all my vaccines and consider Edward Jenner a great man but something is playing havoc with the children in the western industialised, vaccinated, nations. If not vaccines what then?
It could be ANYTHING. We live in a toxic world. Everything we eat and breath is toxic.
The increase in the number of kids with severe autism matches the DECREASE in the number of kids with mental retardation. These kids simply went from one category to another.
Likewise - those with milder autism spectrum disorders (some of which are so mild as to be diagnosed if a child is merely a little shy) matches the decrease in the number of kids with behavioral problems.
What we have here is a new diagnosis - of course it looks like an increase - some time back we didn't know what this was, and autistic kids were labelled as retarded or a child with behavioral problems, or merely shy!
Combine that with an increase due to the one and only factor that HAS been shown to increase the odds of autism - older parents at conception - and that accounts for it.
It's been a big fun media game - scaring parents is easy and profitable, and the story of an autism explosion really works. But when you look at the actual stats - it's not so convincing.
Once upon a time, we didn't know what cancer was - so people just died, and it was called a heart attack or old age. Then we found out what it was - and suddenly there's this new cause of death with a huge growth rate called cancer! That's what this is.