UK doc who linked MMR vaccine to autism guilty of misconduct

London - Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism in a 1998 study was found guilty of professional misconduct for the way the he handled the entire research project that led to the controversial findings.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, along with John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch published what was, at the time, ground-breaking research that linked the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to bowel disease and autism in children, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct Monday by the General Medical Council (GMC). While Wakefield said he intends to appeal the decision, the GMC conclusion means Wakefield has been discredited as a doctor in the United Kingdom. Now working at Thoughtful House, an autism center in Texas, Wakefield insists he has done nothing wrong. In an exclusive interview on the Today show, Wakefield said the American government had conceded a link between vaccines and autism. He also said the GMC could not take away his medical degree. Wakefield's research, conducted with Walker-Smith and Simon Murch, published in 1998 by the Lancet was removed from the Lancet in January 2010. Announcing the retraction, the Lancet said:

"Following the judgment of the UK General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise Panel on Jan 28, 2010, it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation. In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were “consecutively referred” and that investigations were “approved” by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false. Therefore we fully retract this paper from the published record."

Wakefield, who is accused of having gathered samples from children without proper authorization, as well as accusations of having fixed data, has written a book called Callous Disregard, outlining the case the study and the GMC case from Wakefield's perspective. The book was released to the market on Sunday. The GMC heaped most of its condemnation on Wakefield, who headed up the study. In their statement, the GMC found Wakefield guilty of a long list of misbehaviour, including failure to disclose a conflict of interest, misleading the public as well as funders, failing the trust of children patients; as well as engaging in unethical behaviour that included paying children attending his son's birthday party for allowing Wakefield to take blood samples. The GMC had found Wakefield to be dishonest and misleading in January 2010. Simon Murch was found to have made "errors in judgement," said the GMC, and the GMC did not impose dicipline on Murch. Describing Walker-Smith as "... a man of good character, not just in the sense that he has no previous findings recorded against him by the GMC, but also in that he was professionally competent and highly regarded in his chosen field of practice at that time," the GMC also found Walker-Smith guilty of serious professional misconduct for his part in the MMR-autism report. In findings that echoed those for Wakefield, the GMC found Walker-Smith had administered "... colonoscopies that were not clinically indicated ... barium meals and follow-throughs which were not clinically indicated ..." as well as "... lumbar punctures which were not clinically indicated." Walker-Smith's poor record-keeping among other details important to Walker-Smith's position as a professor and Head of the Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine at the time the research was conducted contributed to the decision by the GMC.

"Professor Walker-Smith was involved in research on young, vulnerable children, without the appropriate ethical approval; he caused them to undergo in the pursuit of that research, invasive procedures that were not in their best clinical interests; he was irresponsible in his reporting in a scientific journal of a study which he knew, or ought to have known, had major public health implications. Furthermore he caused a child to be administered Transfer Factor for experimental reasons. The Panel concluded that, in all the circumstances and taking into account the standard which might be expected of a doctor practising in the same field of medicine in similar circumstances in or around 1996-1998, the findings are not only collectively such as to amount to serious professional misconduct, but also when considered individually, constitute multiple separate instances of serious professional misconduct."

While Walker-Smith retired in 2000, the GMC decided to strike him from the medical registrar, a decision that will be in full effect in 28 days should Walker-Smith not appeal. While the GMC has thoroughly trounced Wakefield's research, another British researcher told the Northern Echo earlier this year that a link between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine and autism is still plausible.