The Lancet, Britain’s highly respected medical journal, announced today it is fully retracting a 1998 study suggesting MMR (measles, mumps, rebella) vaccine causes autism. The study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield included just 12 subjects; after a lengthy investigation, his conduct during the study has been deemed unethical.
What a firestorm this paper unleashed, supporting and encouraging the anti-vaccination movement among parents across the globe, even as vaccines have been deemed the single greatest tool in global public health.
The “anti-vaxxers” have placed their own children and everyone else’s, at risk. Maybe this will give them pause, but it’s doubtful. Instead, watch for Wakefield to become the new anti-vax martyr, the obvious “victim” of a campaign by the government, the pharmaceutical companies, and/or other monied interests.
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