Commentary
Fraudulent researcher did more than scare parents away from vaccines
by Haddayr Copley-WoodsLast night, my son Arie knocked on my office door. "May I come in?" he asked politely.
After a pause, the door flew open to reveal a figure with a black cloak, a cardboard shield, a Spiderman mask, a jester's hat and black high-tops. Arie waved a foam broadsword menacingly.
His little brother Eiden abandoned his crayons and leapt to his feet. "Ah HA!" he bellowed, as he threw himself unarmed into the face of America's greatest threat: autism.
Actually, while I'm not going to pretend it's a piece of cake, Arie's condition isn't the terrible danger Andrew Wakefield and his followers would have us believe.
Wakefield's fraudulent, discredited research purported to show a link between autism and vaccination. It sparked an anti-vaccine panic among parents. As a result, countless children have gone un-vaccinated, and hundreds have died from preventable diseases.
This is Wakefield's greatest evil. But a close second is the way he and his followers have demonized autism. They make it seem more frightening than polio.
Since Wakefield was fabricating his data, he could have blamed vaccines for any number of conditions. He could have chosen asthma -- which is actually life threatening.
But he chose autism. And I suspect he did so because most people don't really understand it. They don't get that autism is not the end of the world.
They see it as terrifying and monstrous. And it's a short step from there to seeing people with autism as terrifying monsters.
Arie's parents, therapists and teachers have worked hard to help him manage his neurological differences. And he's worked hard, too.
My son, like so many autistic people, has a lot to offer. There are wonderful, useful qualities that can be part of autism -- such as an unshakable focus, undying loyalty or an obsessive eye for detail.
But what good will those traits do my son if potential employers, lovers and neighbors turn away in fear before giving him a chance?
Arie stands, foam sword aloft, ready to take on the world. I hope with a mother's passionate desperation that some day the world can leap into his arms as his little brother did last night: with fearless, joyful engagement.
It will take a lot of education and advocacy. But it'll be worth it -- and not just for Arie, but for all of us. Because if you turn away from him, you are missing out on one seriously terrific kid.
----
Haddayr Copley-Woods, Minneapolis, is a copywriter, blogger and mother. She is a source in MPR's Public Insight Network.
Comments (17)
As a Mother of 2 Sons with Autism, it saddens me that the rhetoric surrounding Vaccines and Autism continues to favor the Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex. Dr. Wakefield's research is solid and is not the only science questioning the dangers of the ingredients added to vaccines. Brian Deer is a journalist who was paid by the Pharmaceutical Industry to smear Dr. Wakefield back in 1998. It appears me that Medical Journals have to crucify Dr. Wakefield in order to satisfy their Pharmaceutical Deities. Unfortunately, people believe our corporate media for their information. I recommend reading "Overdo$ed America, The Broken Promise of American Medicine. How the Pharmaceutical Companies are Corrupting Science, Misleading Doctors, and Threatening Your Health" by John Abramson, MD.
AND read "Deadly Immunity", a well -documented investigation by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. which shows the coverup by our authorities who hid the evidence for our Autism Epidemic.
http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/docs/ThimerosalScandalFINAL.PDF
I agree with Haddayr Copley-Woods and hope that people would judge our sons by knowing them, and not by what the media tells them to believe. Read, investigate, question, and learn.
I am stunned but not really surprised that the first comment on the article was someone showing up to continue to defend Wakefield. Far from being in the pay of the pharmaceutical industry, Brian Deer has created endless problems for them.
Tim Wakefield fabricated his research. The suggested connection between vaccines and autism has been debunked as thoroughly as Bettelheim's theory about refrigerator mothers.
"Dr. Wakefield's research is solid" - from the first comment on this article.
Wakefield paid children who attended his own child's birthday party to be part of the research pool - in a study with only 12 participants. My family has been part of research studies at Yale and Boston University - this isn't how subjects are selected for credible studies.
I am open to facts on this issue. Credible, replicable facts. Not hysteria. Copley-Woods makes excellent points about how people with autism are perceived, and the anti-vaccine hysteria doesn't help. Neither do groups like Autism Speaks, who make autism seem like a form of death. Autism Speaks and falsified research data (like Wakefield's) set back understanding and awareness of autism and the reality of the condition.
Groups and researchers who work to *truly* understand the brain differences and to create solutions for removing social/physical obstacles should be encouraged and funded.
Most kids I know who are on the spectrum are fascinating, and watching them mature has given our family incredible insight into true humanity. Overwrought, anguished calls for rash actions based on false premises help no one.
"Dr. Wakefield's research is solid" - from the first comment on this article.
Wakefield paid children who attended his own child's birthday party to be part of the research pool - in a study with only 12 participants. My family has been part of research studies at Yale and Boston University - this isn't how subjects are selected for credible studies.
I am open to facts on this issue. Credible, replicable facts. Not hysteria. Copley-Woods makes excellent points about how people with autism are perceived, and the anti-vaccine hysteria doesn't help. Neither do groups like Autism Speaks, who make autism seem like a form of death. Autism Speaks and falsified research data (like Wakefield's) set back understanding and awareness of autism and the reality of the condition.
Groups and researchers who work to *truly* understand the brain differences and to create solutions for removing social/physical obstacles should be encouraged and funded.
Most kids I know who are on the spectrum are fascinating, and watching them mature has given our family incredible insight into true humanity. Overwrought, anguished calls for rash actions based on false premises help no one.
Dr. 'Andrew' Wakefield's research was "debunked" by a journalist who will not reveal his sources. Independent research is unbiased, honest and in agreement with Dr. Wakefield. The idea that you can put the world's most potent neurotoxin into people without hurting them is ridicules. Defenders of the pharmaceutical companies need to show some unbiased research to demonstrate their claims. Don't look to the government for unbiased researh. The FDA approved Thimerosal in 1939. Government complicity is obvious.
ANDREW Wakefield. Not Tim.
I swear I make this mistake every time I talk about him. Tim Wakefield is a Red Sox pitcher and I trust that if he took up medical research in the off season he would do a better job of it than Andrew Wakefield.
I wish to make a sincere and respectful reply to comments made by Haddayer Copely-Woods.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield commented on the circumstances of pediatric gastroenterology. Ethel Mercury passes through the intestinal wall, making a child susceptible to a variety of intestinal problems. Dr. Wakefield only called for research concerning elements of childhood vaccinations.
Autistic children are engaging people and they often have abilities that balance their disabilities. Autistic children tend to grow into their characteristics of Autism Spectrum. An autistic child tends to develop more problems and more intensity in their problems as they age.
I am a parent of two autistic sons, aged 19 and twenty three. I watched my normal toddlers become disabled in their early childhood years and I have watched the intensity of their problems increase with age. They were born at a time when Thimerasol was used to give extra shelf life to vaccines.
Like Dr. Wakefield, I do not condemn the medical practice of vaccinating children. However, it makes no sense to put the world's most toxic neurotoxin into our children. Also, the antigens in vaccines should be natural and they should be applied one at a time, to avoid overstimulating a child's immune system.
Sincerely and respectfully,
It is the reporter Brian deer who is the fraud. he is a discusting hater of people with autism as can be seen in the film below . he was paid by Pharma through a front company called MLI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_AxZ3zHAc
I am both a parent and a teacher of students with autism. Having been in the field for 16 years and seeing the damage done by Wakefield's fraudulent data I am not suprised by the tendency of many to "hold on". By holding on, I mean those who still hang their hats on the immunization causation. When people are confronted with something they cannot understand and someone offers an explanation they can understand they will hang on to that thread with amazing tenacity. While I agree we need to work hard to educate and support those who still hold to false theories we need to do so in a loving and supportive manner. Thanks for the poignant and thoughtful article.
@ted tellman
Wonderful comment.
@Marvin Balmut
If Thimerosal is one of the causes of autism, should we not have seen a drop in the autism rate once it was removed from the vaccine? We have not.
"Also, the antigens in vaccines should be natural and they should be applied one at a time, to avoid overstimulating a child's immune system"
This is another falsehood put forth by those wishing not to vaccinate according to the CDC recommendations. Our bodies immune system can handle thousands of insults and does continuously. Vaccinations prep this system for future recognition. While I respect a look for a cause or causes to autism, we are losing the opportunity for research efforts in new directions. Imagination and creativity have been lost based on false information from Mr. Wakefield.
Wakefield accepted $674,000 from a lawfirm that was preparing a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company that makes MMR vaccine BEFORE he published his "data" and failed to disclose this serious conflict of interest. As a result the immunization rate in the UK dropped from 92% to 73%. There was an outbreak of mumps in the UK in 2005 and cases of measles have been on the rise.
His 'data' is actually just a set of anecdotal reports. No other research has reproduced his findings - and there has been a TON of other research. And unfortunately, Wakefield's supporters seem to think that the plural of 'anecdote' is 'data'.
Patients and healthcare providers should have accurate data and reproducible research findings to guide decisions about their care - not studies that are biased for or against any predetermined outcome.
My wife and I tried to avoid having our son vaccinated based on Wakefield's work. We got in an argument with our pediatrician, who unfortunately couldn't direct us to specific research - we would have read it. Luckily, Maryland state law requires the MMR vaccine for kids to be enrolled in a daycare facility. (Go big government!)
I'm glad to see that Wakefield has been stripped of his medical license in the UK and embarrassed in the global medical community. He really needs to go to jail for this though. Kids have actually died due to his egregious breach of ethics and he's able to go on living his life in Texas.
This is not just a case of professional misconduct. First, do no harm.
Oh brother. First of all many parents ARE suffering greatly with trying to care for their autistic kids. You paint the picture like autism is really "no biggie"... whatever. Maybe it isn't a big deal in YOUR house, but you are one person.
Secondly, I am an unvaccinating parent and I never had even heard of Wakefield or his study before I decided vaccines are not worth the risk. You seem to think Wakefield is single handedly responsible for all these *highly educated* parents choosing to not vaccinate. How simpleminded of you. And how insulting to the thousands of parents out there... The decision to not vaccinate is not one taken lightly by anyone I know, nor would it be based merely on ONE study ...much less ONE study of only 12 children! GIVE ME A BREAK.
The demographic data of people who choose to not vaccinate indicates that they are a HIGHLY educated population... not people who would read one press release and base their children's health on one single study. How stupid do you really think we are?
I don't know, but I will say I know how stupid I believe you are - acting like autism is a walk in the park - even tho everyone knows the symptoms can vary greatly from child to child. Thank your lucky stars your son is doing so well. You are one of the more fortunate ones.
"I don't know, but I will say I know how stupid I believe you are..."
Kristen must not have read the CIVIL part. You lose credibility with your comment.
"Please be civil, brief and relevant"
As the parent of a 47 year old autistic woman who has worked in the autism communitgy as a volunteer since 1969 I know many hundreds of people in this group. Everything I have seen and heard together with the extensive research I have done, including meeting many of the prime movers persuades me that Wakefield is definitely on the right track. The vehemence of his detractors says everything about this issue. Measles in the UK fell for the ten years following the Lancet report but the media would have us believe that worldwide epidemics had killed and maimed thousands. I urge all interested in this field to research and research again all contentious claims made by anyone, especially those with massive vested interests in the subject. My interest is the truth, I have never asked for or accepted a cent for my pursuit of this aim.
Tony Bateson, Oxford, UK.
Now that Dr. John Walker-Smith has been exonerated by a UK High Court and his medical license restored, Dr. Andrew Wakefield must be next to have his professional reputation repaired. Their MMR/GI research has been confirmed and replicated by other scientists. Children's biopsies show vaccine-strain measles in their intestinal lesions. Too many copy-and-paste bloggers have been given screen space, rather than printing documentation from studies, reports and court proceedings. Kids with high-functioning autism do not represent the many more lower-functioning, physically ill children suffering in their homes away from public scrutiny. Read the Walker-Smith decision and especially note how the Lancet 12's treatments were medically necessary. Then ask why society has been so willing to deny this tragedy for so long.
Post a comment
Please be civil, brief and relevant.
E-mail addresses are never displayed but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. MPR reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air with attribution. Please read the Terms and Conditions before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to Minnesota Public Radio. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited e-mail and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
