The MMR controversy

In 1998 the storm of controversy surrounding vaccines and autism, specifically MMR, found a new lightning rod. A group of 12 researchers in England , Drs. Wakefield et al., published in Lancet, a British medical journal, that they believed they had found a link between MMR and an inflammatory bowel disease which was then linked through their reasoning to autism. Wakefield also suggested that the use of secretin, a gastrointestinal hormone, could help reverse the symptoms of autism. The response was quick and divisive. Decriers of vaccines felt vindicated in their belief that immunizations brought more harm than good. Vaccine supporters looked to punch holes in the study. Most people, however, were just plain confused.

In the years since, Dr. Wakefield has gone on to lecture tours across the world to state his case. On the other side, the British Department of Health tore into him because his ideas created a wave of vaccine avoidance and even sparked “measles parties” wherein parents brought previously-unexposed children together with those sick with measles. This was done without addressing the potential lethal consequences of measles itself (3 children in Ireland died from measles) or the profound consequences of Subsclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a sequela of previous measles infection. Other critics noted that his paper presented no new data, but “ merely reviews a number of published articles. It is highly selective, and studies that do not support the author's views are not mentioned. It is easy for scaremongering to sap public confidence by biased presentations that are contrary to the large amount of data that provide real reassurance.”

Meanwhile, researcher in the US also responded by investigating the validity of the study with their own reviews.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was commissioned to provide an overview of this topic. NO CREDIBLE LINK could be found. E-Book Version of the Institute's report.
The NIH and CDC-P both lent their collective opinions and provided considerable efforts to reviewing this topic. NO CREDIBLE LINK could be found.
The state of California published its experience with MMR and the rate of autism in that state. NO ASSOCIATION between the two could be found.
A review of MMR and Irritable bowel disease was published to address the original concept that MMR caused a bowel inflammation. NO CREDIBLE LINK could be found.
A Boston study to confirm a timeline lnk between MMR vaccine and autism showed that the two were clearly NOT LINKED.

Things changed suddenly in March of 2004. Claims of impropriety during the original research were presented to the editors of The Lancet and they were forced to address the complaints. While the controversy raged, 10 of the 12 original authors of the Wakefield article decided to PUBLICALLY RETRACT their “previous interpretations placed upon the findings in the paper.” An eleventh author did not sign the retraction letter and Dr. Wakefield remains adamant in his views.

The lesson? Probably that there are many intelligent people out there and anytime one person claims to have an answer that everyone else has missed we should listen but carefully review the logic. In this case, there was no foundation upon which to base the claims supported by Dr. Wakefield. Many people were inconvenienced or distressed, at best, and some children died, at worst. While the majority of researchers have thought better of their interpretation, original publication will hold sway with some true believers and we will still have unvaccinated, unprotected children walking about.