Lancet MMR autism fraud

Lancet MMR autism fraud
ClaimsResearch linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination with autism
Year proposed1998
Original proponentsAndrew Wakefield
(Overview of pseudoscientific concepts)

The Lancet MMR autism fraud centered on the publication in February 1998 of a fraudulent research paper titled "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children" in the Lancet.[1] The paper, authored by now discredited and deregistered Andrew Wakefield, and twelve coauthors, falsely claimed causative links between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and colitis and between colitis and autism. The fraud involved data selection, data manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation[2][3][4][5] by reporter Brian Deer,[6][7][8] resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010[9] and Wakefield being struck off the UK medical register three months later. Wakefield reportedly stood to earn up to US$43 million per year selling diagnostic kits for a non-existent syndrome he claimed to have discovered.[10] He also held a patent to a rival vaccine at the time, and he had been employed by a lawyer representing parents in lawsuits against vaccine producers.

The scientific consensus on vaccines and autism is that there is no causal connection between MMR, or any other vaccine, and autism.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wakefield was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Deer04a was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Deer2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Patent-and-test-results was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Deer B (31 December 2006). "MMR doctor given legal aid thousands". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007.
  6. ^ Deer, Brian (2020). The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-1-4214-3800-9.
  7. ^ Godlee F, Smith J, Marcovitch H (2011). "Wakefield's article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent". The BMJ. 342: c7452. doi:10.1136/bmj.c7452. PMID 21209060. S2CID 43640126. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  8. ^ Editorial (12 January 2011). "Autism Fraud". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  9. ^ Dyer, Clare (2 February 2010). "Lancet retracts Wakefield's MMR paper". BMJ. 340: c696. doi:10.1136/bmj.c696. ISSN 0959-8138. PMID 20124366. S2CID 43465004. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference WakefieldCapitalize was invoked but never defined (see the help page).