Journal admits vaccine report error

Britain’s prestigious medical weekly The Lancet has conceded it was wrong to publish in 1998 a study suggesting a possible link between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, which sparked a major controversy in Britain. Lancet chief editor Richard Horton has told the BBC the scientist who led the study, Dr Andrew Wakefield, had not informed the journal that he had at the same time conducted research on behalf of parents of children who had fallen ill following MMR vaccination.

Britain’s prestigious medical weekly The Lancet has conceded it was wrong to publish in 1998 a study suggesting a possible link between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, which sparked a major controversy in Britain. Lancet chief editor Richard Horton has told the BBC the scientist who led the study, Dr Andrew Wakefield, had not informed the journal that he had at the same time conducted research on behalf of parents of children who had fallen ill following MMR vaccination. The parents were trying to find out whether they could take legal action. Some of the children were involved in the two parallel studies. “If we knew then what we know now, we certainly would not have published the part of the paper that related to MMR … My belief is that that aspect of his work is entirely flawed and this conflict of interest shows how it was flawed,” he said He stressed that he believed the MMR vaccine was “absolutely safe”. “So safe that our own three-year-old daughter has had MMR and is extremely well and is protected and is contributing to community protection against these three infectious diseases,” he said. British Health Secretary John Reid called on the General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates the medical profession, to investigate the affair. “This alleged conflict of interest is a matter for the GMC,” Mr Reid said. “I am sure they will want to look into this as a matter of urgency.” Opposition MP Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat, also called for an independent investigation into the case, which was already being looked into by the Sunday Times newspaper. Release of the bombshell Wakefield-led study in 1998 had led to a sharp drop in the number of MMR vaccinations. Despite several subsequent studies ruling out any link between MMR and autism, the controversy had not totally died down. Two years ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair sowed fresh doubt by refusing to reveal whether his son Leo had been vaccinated. He argued that this was a private matter but later hinted that his son had indeed been vaccinated. (Source: ABC Health News, AFP, Feb 2004)