September 7, 2011
- Focus:
- History, Policy, Ethics
Piltdown Man Redux?
The Scientific Fraud Behind the MMR Scare
Life in a post-Wakefield world: Part I
starring
Fiona Godlee, MD
Editor-in-Chief,
British Medical Journal (BMJ)
- Clubhouse Location:
- WHSCAB Plaza and Auditorium (1440 Clifton Rd)
- Agenda:
- 6:00pm — wine, cheese, networking
6:30pm — meeting convenes
7:45pm — casual buffet dinner, more networking
In February 1998 -- the same year that the VDC held its first meeting -- Dr. Andrew Wakefield and 12 co-authors (SH Murch, A Anthony, J Linnell, DH Casson, M Malik, M Berelowitz, AP Dhillon, MA Thomson, P Harvey, A Valentine, SE Davies, and JA Walker-Smith) published a now-infamous paper in the Lancet entitled: "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children" (Lancet 1998; 351: 637-41).
The Summary from that article is quoted below:
Background We investigated a consecutive series of children with chronic enterocolitis and regressive developmental disorder.
Methods 12 children (mean age 6 years [range 3-10], 11 boys) were referred to a paediatric gastroenterology unit with a history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Children underwent gastroenterological, neurological, and developmental assessment and review of developmental records. Ileocolonoscopy and biopsy sampling, magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and lumbar puncture were done under sedation. Barium follow-through radiography was done where possible. Biochemical, haematological, and immunological profiles were examined.
Findings Onset of behavioural symptoms was associated, by the parents, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination in eight of the 12 children, with measles infection in one child, and otitis media in another. All 12 children had intestinal abnormalities, ranging from lymphoid nodular hyperplasia to aphthoid ulceration. Histology showed patchy chronic inflammation in the colon in 11 children and reactive ileal lymphoid hyperplasia in seven, but no granulomas. Behavioural disorders included autism (nine), disintegrative phychosis (one), and possible postviral or vaccinal encephalitis (two). There were no focal neurological abnormalities and MRI and EEG tests were normal. Abnormal laboratory results were significantly raised urinary methylmalonic acid compared with age-matched controls (p=0.003), low haemoglobin in four children, and a low serum IgA in four children.
Interpretation We identified associated gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a grojup of previously normal children, which was generally associated in time with possible environmental triggers.
In a recent editorial in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), BMJ 2011;342:c7452, BMJ editor in chief Fiona Godlee, MD, deputy editor Jane Smith, and associate editor Harvey Marcovitch had this to say:
"Authored by Andrew Wakefield and 12 others, the paper’s scientific limitations were clear when it appeared in 1998. As the ensuing vaccine scare took off, critics quickly pointed out that the paper was a small case series with no controls, linked three common conditions, and relied on parental recall and beliefs. Over the following decade, epidemiological studies consistently found no evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. By the time the paper was finally retracted 12 years later, after forensic dissection at the General Medical Council’s (GMC) longest ever fitness to practise hearing, few people could deny that it was fatally flawed both scientifically and ethically."
When you stop to consider the human toll that that publication unleashed -- the tragic, highly preventable deaths and permanent disabilities in children of parents who believed in Dr. Wakefield's "science," not to mention the excess morbidity among vaccinated children who have been unlucky enough to be caught in an outbreak sparked by unvaccinated kids -- you just have to stop on wonder ...
WHY DID HE DO IT?
Well, journalist Brian Deer of the Sunday Times of London wondered the same thing. And while some of you vacciners toiled away in your labs challenging Wakefield's science and others of you worked ceaselessly on the front lines to raise needlessly sinking vaccination rates, Mr. Deer spent seven years painstakingly researching the backstory, the sidebars, and the ripple effect of that infamous article.
A summary of his findings was published early this year as a three part series in the BMJ (British Medical Journal):
- Secrets of the MMR scare: How the case behind the MMR vaccine was fixed
BMJ 2011; 342:c5347 (Published 5 January 2011) - Secrets of the MMR scare: How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money
BMJ 2011; 342:c5258 (Published 11 January 2011) - Secrets of the MMR scare: The Lancet's two days to bury bad news
BMJ 2011; 342:c7001 (Published 18 January 2011)
Want to hear more about it?
Here's your chance! Dr. Godlee will talk about scientific fraud and it's implications for all of us at our Fall Kickoff meeting of the VDC. In her own words from an email related to this program:
"I have never really seen this as the BMJ defending the MMR vaccine or vaccines in general. It is the misconduct - whatever the research topic - that is at the heart of this for me. Having said which, misconduct on an issue as globally important as a major public health intervention against fatal and infectious diseases is clearly a graver crime than misconduct with no clinical or health impact. There is a risk - which Brian Deer has been careful throughout this saga to avoid as far as possible - that one will be seen as an uncritical defender of vaccines in general and (inevitably) a friend of Big Pharma. I would like to avoid this impression at all costs as it is far from the truth."
"... I would be very happy to come and speak. Obviously the bigger and more influential and challenging the audience, the better!"
So grab your partners, your neighbors, and your shadows and be part of a big, influential, and challenging audience this September 7th.
Hope to see you and your guests for dinner at the Club!
-Kimberley