Lancet editors fully retract Wakefield paper
- PDF / 142,288 Bytes
- 1 Pages / 595.245 x 841.846 pts (A4) Page_size
- 60 Downloads / 218 Views
1
Lancet editors fully retract Wakefield paper The editors of The Lancet have fully retracted the 1998 paper by Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues, which described a possible link between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and behavioural abnormalities in children.1 The retraction follows the judgement by the UK General Medical Council’s (GMCs) Fitness to Practice Panel, made on 28 January 2010, which concluded that several elements of the paper by Wakefield et al. were incorrect. The Lancet editors note, in particular, that claims that children were "consecutively referred" and that investigations were "approved" by the local ethics committee were proven to be false. In the original paper, Wakefield et al. described 12 children (aged 3–10 years) with a history of normal development, who subsequently developed behavioural disorders, including autism (9 children), disintegrative psychosis (1) and possible encephalitis (2), that were linked by either the child’s parents or physician to MMR vaccination.* Reporting for the BMJ, Clare Dyer states that Dr Wakefield was found to have taken blood samples from the children at his son’s birthday party, in exchange for £5 each. Wakefield also subjected children to intrusive procedures that were not clinically indicated, such as lumbar punctures and colonoscopies.2 In 2004, The Lancet editors released a statement regarding allegations of serious research misconduct by Wakefield et al.** and ten of the paper’s twelve authors signed a statement in which they retracted the interpretation of a possible link between MMR vaccine and autism.† In the recent hearing, the GMC panel ruled that, along with Dr Wakefield, co-authors John WalkerSmith and Simon Murch carried out investigations that were without proper ethics approval and were not in the children’s interests. The final session of the hearing begins in April.2 * see Reactions 691 p2; 800631908 ** see Reactions 990 p3; 800973103 † see Reactions 992 p2; 800969583 1. Editors of The Lancet. Retraction - ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, nonspecific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet 375: 445-462, No. 9713, 6 Feb 2010. 2. Dyer C. Wakefield was dishonest and irresponsible over MMR research, says GMC. BMJ : Online first [2 pages], 29 Jan 2010. Available from: URL: http:// www.bmj.com. 801140339
0114-9954/10/1288-0001/$14.95 © 2010 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved
Reactions 13 Feb 2010 No. 1288
Data Loading...
