11 Years On: Wakefield Manufactured Data Showing MMR-Autism Link?

Monday February 9, 2009:I am updating this silently as new blog posts appear

This was published on February 8, 2009, in the Times of London:

MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism by Brian Deer

THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.

Response from the anti-vax crowd at Age of Autism? They are surely impervious to evidence:

I have read Brian Deer's myopic and sick articles before and this ranks as a prime example of the disgusting lows he will go to as a freak show "freelance writer."

How the Sunday Times can actually print this as news, as true facts is just baffling and shows the lengths that these horrible human beings will go to. How he got the confidential information to salivate about and change to his liking so he could twist the words around and make his fantasy Wakefield story appear is truly crazy and more than likely illegal.

People want this science to go away and it's not ever going away so the witch hunt continues. Deer is not a bulldog but more like a parasite. He is living off the pain and suffering of our children and he needs to be exposed for the slimy, sensationalistic, liar that he is.

Posted by: Teresa Conrick | February 08, 2009 at 05:47 PM

The articles:

• MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism, by Brian Deer

  THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

  Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patients’ data, which triggered fears that the MMR triple vaccine to protect against measles, mumps and rubella was linked to the condition.

• Hidden records show MMR truth, by Brian Deer--A Sunday Times investigation has found that altered data was behind the decade-long scare over vaccination

• How the MMR scare led to the return of measles

  There were 1,348 cases of measles in the UK last year, according to the Health Protection Agency, up 36% from 2007. In 1998, the year that Andrew Wakefield published his research in The Lancet, there were 56 cases.

• MMR: Key Dates in the Crisis

Response from people who are actually rational on the subject (I've shortened most titles) -- Blog posts

Blog Posts on Brian Deer's articles at the Times of London, Sunday Feb 8 2009

1. Scientific Misconduct, the Questionable Authority
2. It Defies Description at A Life Less Ordinary
3. Discredited Dr. Wakefield at Skeptic Dad
4. Scientific Fraud at Science-Based Medicine
5. Vaccine-autism Link was Faked at Bad Astronomy
6. Wakefield Faked Evidence at Respectful Insolence
7. The Anti-vaccination Movement: Rotten to the core at White Coat Underground
8. Vaccine-Autism Link: Can We Stick A Fork in It? at Aetiology
9. Andrew Wakefield's Fraudulent Claims at Genomics, Evolution, and Pseudoscience
10. Andrew Wakefield Fixed Data at Instapundit
11. Brian Deer on Andrew Wakefield at Holford Watch
12. Andrew Wakefield's faked research kills children at Nwhyte
13. Wakefield Falsified Data at Cargo Cult Science
14. More MMR Misdeeds by Andrew Wakefield at Mainstream Parenting
15. Alleged Misreporting of Data at the Volokh Conspiracy
16. Anti-vax study a case of scientific Fraud? at Pharyngula
17. A quick note to the Huffington Post at A Blog Around the Clock
18. MMR Vaccine Link Study Faked? At A Blog for All
19. Autism Uproar Fomented with a Fraud? at The Glittering Eye
20. Andrew Wakefield is a Liar from Bankrupt Artist v.3.0
21. Andrew Wakefield Changed and Misreported Results from Black Triangle
22. Ten Years of Bad Science from the Ace of Spades
23. Why Understanding Science Matters (again) from the Crowhill Blog
24. MMR Doctor Andrew Wakefield Fixed Data on Autism, from the Daily Irrelevant
25. MMR Doctor Andrew Wakefield Fixed Data on Autism, from Parenting 101
26. Wakefield's Misdeeds from Medical Marginalia
27. Andrew Wakefield Made it All Up? from Polonius
28. There Goes What's Left of the Lancet's Credibility from The Buttle
29. Andrew Wakefield an Incompetent Scientist and Fraud at Skepacabra
30. MMR and Autism: How the Media Endangered Children from SciBite
31. The MMR-Autism Link Should Be Binned for Good Now, from the Great DBH Rant
32. Important News About MMR Vacine-Autism Link at Greg Ladin's Blog
33. Faked Data at Chapomatic.
34. Allegations that Wakefield Faked Data at the Skeptics' Book of Pooh-Pooh
35. Wakefield Not a Scientist at Do Not Trust Me
36. Andrew Wakefield at the Milligan
37. Vaccination-autism Link allegedly Faked at DB
38. The Professionals? At NHS
39. Liar or Just Unqualified at Teapot Skeptic
40. When Medical Journals Err at Blogger News Network
41. Andrew Wakefield at Live Like Dirt
42. Wakefield Data Questioned Again At EBD Blog
43. Did MMR Doctor Fix Data? at The Hunter Gatherer
44. Wakefield Falsified Data to Link MMR with Autism, at the Voyage
45. I'm a Believer: MMR, Autism, and Wakefield at Medic Facility
46. Wakefield Falsified Data? at Food and Health Skeptic
47. Andrew Wakefield a Fraud? at the Phrenologist's Notebook
48. Autism Fiction at Behind Blue Lines
49. Researcher Fudged Data at Joanne Jacobs
50. Anti-Vaccine Child Deaths Based on Lies, at Mystery Rays
51. Peter Hitchens and Andrew Wakefield, at No Sleep til Brooklands
52. Andrew Wakefield Falsified Data? at Huffington Post
53. Researcher Fabricated Autism-Vaccine Link, at Stroller Derby
54. Autism-Vaccine Scare Began When MD Faked Data, at Disability News
55. The Big Autism-Vaccine Hoax at The Autopsy
56. Autism/Vaccine Study Authors Faked Results at Waldo Jasquith
57. Autism-Vaccine Study a Hoax, at W.C. Varones
58. Original autism/vaccine connection study was more than flawed; it was partially faked at Haddayr's Blog
59. Autism/Vaccine Link Dealt New Blog at The News Junkie
60. MMR/Autism--Original Data Fraudulent? at Trousers to Grow Into
61. MMR-Autism Study Results "Changed," "Misreported" at the Drudge Report
62. Medical Data Linking Autism to Vaccines was Faked, at A1A South
63. "Vaccines Cause Autism" Myth Exposed as Fraud, at BlogOnCherry
64. Vaccines and Autism--A Fraud from Day One? from Be the Best You Can Be
65. Vaccination/Autism Link: Research May Have Been Fake from Science for Non-Majors
66. Data Linking MMR Vaccine to Autism "Fixed" at Advances in the History of Psychology
67. Weird (and very Bad) Science at Alterdestiny
68. Another Lancet Embarassment: Vaccine-Scare Doctor Faked Data at Hot Air
69. Roots of the Vaccine-Autism Panic at Point of Law
70. Original Link between MMR and Autism Based on False Data at Eco Child's Play
71. Lancing Lancet at American Thinker
72. Thank You Andrew Wakefield at Flies and Bikes
73. Autism, Vaccines, and What the Words Say at Autism.Change.Org
74. For the Last Time, Vaccines Don't Cause Autism at the Big Blog
75. Brian Deer Finds Andrew Wakefield Faked Data at Neurologica Blog
76. Wakefield at LeftBrain/RightBrain
77. Hold On, Jenny Mac: Vaccines Don't Cause Autism at LimeLife
78. Another Nail in the Coffin of Autism-MMR link at The World Tonight Blog, Station CHQR AM 770
79. Research Link Between Autism, Vaccines Called into Question--Disability Scoop
80. Newspaper Accuses MMR-Autism Doctor of Falsifying Data--Finding Dulcinea
81. The Vaccine/Autism Fraud at Denialism

Blog Posts on Wakefield's response to Brian Deer's Articles

1. Andrew Wakefield Responds to Brian Deer at Holford Watch

Mainstream News media on Brian Deer's articles

1. Doctor Accused of Fixing Research --Sky News (Australia)
2. Doctor "Fixed" Autism Research Canberra Times
3. Doctor Denies Manipulating Vaccine Data -- Market Watch
4. Doctor Denies Manipulating Vaccine Data -- UPI
5. MMR-Autism Link Data Falsified -- Huliq News
6. British Doctor Who Kicked Off Vaccines-Autism Scare May Have Lied, Newspaper Says at LA Times Blog
7. Report: Doctor "Misreported" Research Link Between Childhood Vaccines, Autism--USA Today Online
8. Doctor Who  Sparked Autism-Vaccine Scare May Have Lied--Dallas Special Needs Examiner
9. How My Friends Fell For the MMR Panic -- UK Evening Standard
10. No Evidence Supports Previously Held Link Between Vaccines and Autism--Medscape
11. Doctor Fixed Data on Autism--MMR Shot Link -- Cleveland Leader
12. Doctor Accused of Changing and Misreporting Autism Data--Ozarks First
13. Was the Vaccine-Autism Link a Fraud? at ZDNet
14. Wakefield the Worst Person at Keith Olbermann's Countdown
15. The Original Vaccine/Autism Study Debunked at the Washington Post
16. The MMR Scandal is Back at the Telegraph (UK)

"Balanced" Reports

1. Andrew Wakefield, autism and the MMR: a new controversy arises at About.com: Autism
2. So Much for Due Process, by Facing Autism in New Brunswick
3. It Was Wakefield, In The Study, With False Data?

Those continuing to support Andrew Wakefield

1. British Bulldog Attacks Dr. Wakefield Again"at Age of Autism
2. Autism, Bowel Disease and MMR: Dr. Andrew Wakefield Responds to Brian Deer at Age of Autism (download PDF: Wakefield_Response_Deer_2_09 )
3. Brian Deer – history repeating itself as farce.  By John Stone at Age of Autism
4. The True Professional Cannot be Silenced by Christina England at American Chronicle
5. Andrew Wakefield and the Ignorant US Vaccine Lobby, by Vaccine Information and Your Child's Health Safety 
6. The Truth from Dr. Wakefield by Autistic by Injection
7. CryShame (UK organization with updates)
8. Brian Deer Slanders Andrew Wakefield by NoToMMR (YouTube Video)
9. The Smearing of Dr. Wakefield at Whale.to
10. Dr. Andrew Wakefield Responds In The Spectator with Melanie Phillips at Age of Autism
11. The Witchhunt Against Dr. Wakefield in The Spectator

Comments

[Emily]

Hi, Liz--Thanks for posting the link to my blog. It's ironic that Age of Autism thinks (I use the term loosely) that Deer is such an all-out fraud given that the man has taken on the Devil Himself in the form of Big Pharma incubus Merck in another of his investigative reports and also took on the problems with the "AIDS vaccine." And there are many others. It's not like Wakefield or MMR is all he does. He's an INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER and a damned good one, at that. http://www.briandeer.com/

[DB]

Hi Liz, thanks for the link and the comment. I am going to link yours as a resource as you have some good stuff here. This issue frustrates the hell out of me and needs exposure. I can't believe the people defending this (as you can see from the comments on my blog)!

[Grumpy Bob]

I posted a comment on Wakefield's role on 6th Feb, at my blog as the Jeni Barnett furore spread and the measles data came out - it predated Brian Deer's latest.
http://robertsaunders.org.uk
Robert

[DBH]

Thanks Liz for linking to my piece. This is a great article you have here. Just so you know, The Age of Autism has posted Andrew Wakefield's response to the Deer investigation. Filled with more gibberish of course, but still worth a look.

[Steven Salzberg]

Nice work, Liz. I had found half a dozen blogs commenting on this, and linked to a couple of them in my own post, but 65! It's very helpful to have them all in one place, and it's eye-opening to see the vitriol and denial behavior from the anti-vaccination crowd.

[Joseph]

So according to Harold Doherty, when journalists uncover and report on possible wrongdoing, that's a violation of due process. Isn't Doherty supposed to be a lawyer?

What about the last time when Brian Deer reported that Wakefield was paid close to a million dollars by vaccine injury dollars in order to carry out his research? Deer was sued by Wakefield then, and we know what happened. Keep in mind that UK libel laws are very plaintiff-friendly.

[Andy Holroyd]

A good round-up, thanks for your work.

[PalMD]

Ugh...the crazies are all crawling out. It's sad, even when their hero has shown to be making shit up out of whole cloth, they just cling to him like burs on a dog's ass. I agree with tara smith: "can't we just put a fork in it alread?" cuz this manufactroversy is very, very done.

[Anne]

I guess if you knew someone who had a kid who was "normal" until they were injected, you might not be so skeptical. When you inject little children with thinks like formaldehyde, metals and chick embryos, what do you think is going to happen? Try using some common sense.

[short man]

come on Anne you know these things are fully tested . just ask brian I hear he's a real science expert

[HolfordWatch]

Anne, formaldehyde is a normal by-product of our own metabolism. Normal blood levels are 2.5ppm or 2.5mg/L (or 2.5 ug of formaldehyde per ml of blood) - compared to that, the amount in a vaccine is within limits, particularly given the half-life in blood of 1.5mins.

If you consult vaccine formulations, the average amount to which an infant might be exposed on any one occasion is 0.2mg. Assuming the (not unreasonable) average weight of a 2-month-old of 11 lb (5kg) with a typical blood volume of 85ml/kg, the infant's circulation usually works out at about 1.1mg, or x5 greater than the amount in a vaccine.

We've discussed mercury and aluminium elsewhere.

HTH

[PalMD]

When you inject little children with thinks like formaldehyde, metals and chick embryos, what do you think is going to happen? Try using some common sense.

Yeah, better stay away from those chick embryos.

On a separate note, I'm gonna get me an omelette for dinner.

[pv]

Their on-line behaviour is generally sour, intolerant, even misanthropic. But the anti-vaccination crowd are some of Wakefield's most tragic victims. They have invested a great deal of their time and energy, their lives even, in defending the appalling liar and charlatan who has so clearly taken them in. I don't doubt there were expectations of shed loads of money to ease their woes on the back of his scam, and their hopes have been dashed. If he declared to morrow the Earth was flat they would accommodate it, such is their personal investment in him. They cannot let go of their obsession to Wakefield's fantasy, because they cannot allow it. To do so would be tantamount to an admission that they are exactly as all the rational world knows them to be - outrageously credulous and ignorant, and without a shred of humility.
Maybe at one time, before all this spectacular fiasco started, they might have earned some sympathy for the situation some of them and their children are in. But they have dug their own hole with their bile filled arrogance and vitriol. They offer no evidence for their arguments, only more personal insults, bile and vitriol. They have missed out on a jackpot and, like the most difficult hyperactive children they are having an interminable tantrum. They are comfortable in the shitty mess of their own making and no-one should expect any of them to eat humble pie and come out any time soon.

[DB]

I am utterly shocked at the absurd claims they are making on my blog, and many of the other blogs listed here. This is nuts, I don't even know how to respond to them because they, unbeknown to themselves, are the victims!

[Dave]

Thanks for linking Scibite here, this is a very interesting collection you have here. The anti-vax crowd do seem to resemble religious extremists in their unfounded beliefs and inflammatory language. DB is isn't quite right though, it is not they who are the victims, it is their children. These people leech off the herd immunity of our population seeming to be happily ignorant of the suffering and death that might otherwise inflict their children if we didn't have these vaccines!

[garden arbors]

great post. thanks!

garden arbors

[Curtis Maybin]

There is some kind of cover-up going on somewhere

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-34018-Anaheim-Autism--Parenting-Examiner