Andrew Wakefield

Andrew Wakefield
Wakefield at an anti-vaccine rally in Warsaw, Poland, in June 2019
Born
Andrew Jeremy Wakefield

(1956-09-03) 3 September 1956 (age 68)
Canadian Red Cross Memorial Hospital, Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England
EducationKing Edward's School, Bath
Alma materSt Mary's Hospital Medical School, London
Occupation(s)Former physician, anti-vaccination activist
Known forLancet MMR autism fraud
Spouse(s)Carmel, m. 32 years, divorced[citation needed]
PartnerElle Macpherson (2017–2019)[1][2]
Children4[citation needed]
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Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born 3 September 1956)[3][4][a] is a British fraudster, discredited academic, anti-vaccine activist, and former physician.

He was struck off the medical register for his involvement in The Lancet MMR autism fraud, a 1998 study that fraudulently claimed a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. He has subsequently become known for anti-vaccination activism. Publicity around it caused a sharp decline in vaccination uptake, leading to a number of outbreaks of measles around the world and many deaths therefrom. He was a surgeon on the liver transplant programme at the Royal Free Hospital in London and became senior lecturer and honorary consultant in experimental gastroenterology at the Royal Free and University College School of Medicine. He resigned from his positions there in 2001, "by mutual agreement", then moved to the United States. In 2004, Wakefield co-founded and began working at the Thoughtful House research center (now renamed Johnson Center for Child Health and Development) in Austin, Texas, serving as executive director there until February 2010, when he resigned in the wake of findings against him by the British General Medical Council.

Wakefield published his 1998 paper on autism in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, claiming to have identified a novel form of enterocolitis linked to autism. However, other researchers were unable to reproduce his findings,[7][8] and a 2004 investigation by Sunday Times reporter Brian Deer identified undisclosed financial conflicts of interest on Wakefield's part.[9] Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to $43 million per year selling test kits.[10] Most of Wakefield's co-authors then withdrew their support for the study's interpretations,[11] and the General Medical Council (GMC) conducted an inquiry into allegations of misconduct against Wakefield and two former colleagues,[12] focusing on Deer's findings.[13]

In 2010, the GMC found that Wakefield had been dishonest in his research, had acted against his patients' best interests and mistreated developmentally delayed children,[14] and had "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant".[15][16][17] The Lancet fully retracted Wakefield's 1998 publication on the basis of the GMC's findings, noting that elements of the manuscript had been falsified and that the journal had been "deceived" by Wakefield.[18][19] Three months later, Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register, in part for his deliberate falsification of research published in The Lancet,[20] and was barred from practising medicine in the UK.[21] In a related legal decision, a British court held that "[t]here is now no respectable body of opinion which supports [Wakefield's] hypothesis, that MMR vaccine and autism/enterocolitis are causally linked".[22] In 2016, Wakefield directed the anti-vaccination film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe.

  1. ^ Hansen, Jane (21 February 2021). "Elle Macpherson's new life with world's most notorious anti-vaxxers". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  2. ^ Duff, Seamus (9 December 2021). "Elle Macpherson confirms split from ex-doctor anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield". Mirror. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  3. ^ Deer, Brian (2020). The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 15–17. ISBN 978-1-42143-800-9.
  4. ^ Marko, Vladimir (2020). From Aspirin to Viagra: Stories of the Drugs that Changed the World. Springer Nature. p. 246. ISBN 978-3-030-44286-6. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Profile: Dr Andrew Wakefield". BBC News. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference ManBehind was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Madsen KM, Hviid A, Vestergaard M, et al. (November 2002). "A population-based study of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism". N. Engl. J. Med. 347 (19): 1477–1482. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa021134. PMID 12421889.
  8. ^ Black C, Kaye JA, Jick H (August 2002). "Relation of childhood gastrointestinal disorders to autism: nested case-control study using data from the UK General Practice Research Database". BMJ. 325 (7361): 419–421. doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7361.419. PMC 119436. PMID 12193358.
  9. ^ Deer, Brian (22 February 2004). "Revealed: MMR research scandal". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference WakefieldCapitalize was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Maggie, McKee (4 March 2004). "Controversial MMR and autism study retracted". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 13 August 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  12. ^ "MMR doctor 'to face GMC charges'". BBC News. 12 June 2006. Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
  13. ^ Ferriman, A (March 2004). "MP raises new allegations against Andrew Wakefield". BMJ. 328 (7442): 726. doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7442.726-a. PMC 381348. PMID 15612092.
  14. ^ General Medical Council. "General Medical Council, Fitness to Practise Panel Hearing, 28 January 2010, Andrew Wakefield, John Walker-Smith & Simon Murch" (PDF). BrianDeer.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  15. ^ "MMR-row doctor failed in his duties". Yorkshire Evening Post. 28 January 2010. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  16. ^ Triggle, Nick (28 January 2010). "MMR scare doctor 'acted unethically', panel finds". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  17. ^ Sarah, Boseley (28 January 2010). "Andrew Wakefield found 'irresponsible' by GMC over MMR vaccine scare". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 February 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2011.
  18. ^ The Editors of The Lancet (February 2010). "Retraction – Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children". The Lancet. 375 (9713): 445. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60175-4. PMID 20137807. S2CID 26364726. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  19. ^ Sarah, Boseley (2 February 2010). "Lancet retracts 'utterly false' MMR paper". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  20. ^ "General Medical Council, Fitness to Practise Panel Hearing, 24 May 2010, Andrew Wakefield, Determination of Serious Professional Misconduct" (PDF). General Medical Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  21. ^ Meikle, James; Boseley, Sarah (24 May 2010). "MMR row doctor Andrew Wakefield struck off register". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  22. ^ "MMR doctor wins High Court appeal". BBC News. 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2016.


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