Why Anyone Who Claims Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Paper Says MMR Vaccines Cause Autism is a Dishonest Cretin.

Exposing the fraudsters who call Andrew Wakefield a fraudster.

A critic of the 1998 Wakefield et al paper.

You’ve all heard of Andrew Wakefield. He was subjected to an apoplectic global smear campaign after he and a dozen other authors published a 1998 Lancet paper reporting on 12 kids with gastrointestinal and developmental disorders.

The paper was subsequently retracted by the journal and to this day, he remains the favorite whipping boy of pharma shills and pro-vaccine sheep. His name is mentioned on cue anytime someone dares suggest a link between vaccination and autism.

I’ve been meaning to write about the absurd anti-Wakefield phenomenon since forever, but was finally prompted into action this morning after reading a critique of a recent study linking childhood vaccination with an increased risk of autism and other developmental disorders.

The critique in question was penned by Danish professor Peter C Gøtzsche. I used to have a favorable opinion of Gøtzsche, due to his previous writings on the link between antidepressant use and increased suicide risk. However, after reading his critique of the aforementioned study, my respect for him instantly evaporated.

In fact, it’s now in negative territory.

The recent paper that Gøtzsche critiques makes no mention of Wakefield, nor does it reference his 1998 paper. But like other critics of the vaccine-autism link, Gøtzsche just can’t help himself from engaging in a vigorous bout of anti-Wakefield wankery.

He absurdly writes:

“Antivaccine circles celebrate one of the worst fraudsters in medical history, Andrew Wakefield, as a hero. He published a study in The Lancet claiming that the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) caused autism.”

My ass he did.

Anyone who claims Andrew Wakefield’s Lancet paper said the MMR or any other vaccine “causes autism” is a liar.

A repugnant, shameless liar.

Strong words, I know. But don’t just take my word for it - read the Wakefield paper for yourself.

Go on, it’s right here. You can read the full thing, for free.

The 1998 Lancet paper is a case series report on 12 children presenting with chronic enterocolitis and regressive developmental disorder.

Nowhere in that paper do Wakefield and his co-authors claim the MMR vaccine “causes” anything.

The abstract of their paper reports:

Onset of behavioural symptoms was associated, by the parents, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination in eight of the 12 children, with measles infection in one child, and otitis media in another. All 12 children had intestinal abnormalities, ranging from lymphoid nodular hyperplasia to aphthoid ulceration.

(Bold emphasis added)

Where, exactly, do they claim the MMR vaccine causes autism?

They go on to mention that nine of the children had autism.

But again, where do they say the MMR vaccine causes autism?

They don’t.

If I note that 12 children presenting with gastrointestinal and behavioral issues are all wearing Sponge Bob t-shirts, and 9 of them have autism, how the hell does that become “he’s a fraud! He said Sponge Bob t-shirts cause autism!”

It doesn’t.

When we go to the results section of the full text of that paper, it notes:

In eight children, the onset of behavioural problems had been linked, either by the parents or by the child’s physician, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination.

Five had had an early adverse reaction to immunisation (rash, fever, delirium; and, in three cases, convulsions).

In these eight children the average interval from exposure to first behavioural symptoms was 6·3 days (range 1–14).

(Bold emphasis added)

It’s hardly a secret that vaccines - including the MMR shots - cause post-injection reactions.

But again, where do they say the MMR shots cause autism?

Wakefield et al note that all twelve of the kids had received the MMR vaccine. It’s hardly a felony to make such an observation. To the contrary, it is both good clinical practice and plain bloody commonsense to look for common denominators among a series of patients presenting with similar symptoms.

In the Discussion section of the paper, Wakefield et al note:

We describe a pattern of colitis and ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia in children with developmental disorders. Intestinal and behavioural pathologies may have occurred together by chance, reflecting a selection bias in a self-referred group; however, the uniformity of the intestinal pathological changes and the fact that previous studies have found intestinal dysfunction in children with autistic-spectrum disorders, suggests that the connection is real and reflects a unique disease process.

They are making deductions here, which is exactly what clinicians and researchers are supposed to do when trying to get at the root of a problem. They even allow for the possibility that the cluster of cases occurred by chance, unlikely as that may be.

They then note that other researchers (Fudenberg, Gupta) have previously reported associations between MMR vaccination and the onset of behavioural symptoms.

Now here comes the real cracker:

We did not prove an association between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described.

Wakefield et al further write:

If there is a causal link between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and this syndrome, a rising incidence might be anticipated after the introduction of this vaccine in the UK in 1988. Published evidence is inadequate to show whether there is a change in incidence or a link with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.

(Bold emphasis added)

So, to recap for the likes of Gøtzsche and all the other fraudsters who accuse Wakefield of being a fraudster:

Not only did Andrew Wakefield and colleagues not say anywhere in the Lancet paper that MMR vaccination causes autism, they clearly stated their own case series “did not prove an association between measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described.”

They further noted that, at the time, “Published evidence is inadequate to show whether there is a change in incidence or a link with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.”

So if you hear anyone repeat the claim that in 1998 Andrew Wakefield published a Lancet paper claiming the MMR vaccine causes autism, write that person off as an unabashed liar not to be trusted on any topic.

What Wakefield and his co-authors did conclude in that 1998 paper is:

We have identified a chronic enterocolitis in children that may be related to neuropsychiatric dysfunction. In most cases, onset of symptoms was after measles, mumps, and rubella immunisation. Further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to this vaccine.

Sensibly calling for further investigation into a compelling association is a far cry from declaring something to be causal.

If you have been swayed by the anti-Wakefield slander, then I urge you to grow up, develop some critical thinking skills, and do your own research instead of mindlessly accepting the toxic electronic heroin drip-fed to you on a daily basis via the idiot box and slandernet.

For the record, I don’t doubt that injecting people with pharma junk containing neurotoxic compounds like aluminum and mercury can increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. I don’t doubt it for one minute. But a proper discussion of that topic is a whole other exercise for another day.

My point here is to reiterate that anyone who persists in claiming that Andrew Wakefield claimed in his 1998 Lancet paper that the MMR vaccine causes autism is an out-and-out liar.

Excuse my Italian, but anyone who repeats this utterly baseless accusation is a stupido pezzo di merda.

After you’ve read the 1998 paper, ask yourself if it even begins to justify the utterly putrid, insanely hysterical, career-destroying smear campaign that Wakefield was subjected to. To this day - some 27 years after the Lancet paper was published - any mention of Wakefield by the grubby mainstream media is inevitably accompanied by the word “disgrace”.

The real disgraces are Big Pharma, the mainstream media, and all the terribly gullible fools who uncritically soak up their agenda-driven nonsense.

Anyhow, have some cheesecake.