The man who linked AUTISM to MMR vaccine
In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist had published a paper in the Lancet. It claimed that there was a link between the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), and Autism and Bowel Disease.
It took 6 years for the GMC ( British Medical Council ) to discredit his theory.
That’s again only after one investigative journalist could link his study to the fundings by lawyers of a hardcore anti vaxxer lobby.
Finally his article was retracted from the Lancet and his medical license was summarily revoked in 2005.
But enough damage had been done by that time. MMR vaccination dropped to an all time low By 2010, thousand cases of measles reappeared in US. Most of the affected children were found to have incomplete immunization by choice.
What did a discredited gastroenterologist whose license has been struck off do?
He left UK for good to settle in Texas. Instead of saying sorry, he played victim to a “conspiracy between Government and pharmaceutical industry”.
Psychological persuasion power of a conspirational theory is enormous. And this power comes from the social media.
“Today, no one knows quite what to believe because of the all pervasive social media.”
Soon he had a large following in facebook groups, made up predominantly of young mothers with autistic children.
In US, he became a consultant to a large number of networks of autism-related charities and businesses. He has been drawing six-figure salaries from the early 2000s onwards from them.
Austin, Houston and Dallas have become hotbeds for vaccine “conscientious” objections because of this one man.
In 2016, Wakefield directed the film “Vaxxed” denouncing vaccination which was released amidst a lot of protest.
He even was invited to the president’s inaugural ball in 2017. Soon after, Trump called for a “vaccine safety commission”.
Reason:
The Houston election is being fought by Trump’s candidate candidate solely on an anti- vaccine platform called –“Texans for Vaccine Choice”.
….
My personal take:
I was impressed by Andrew Wakefield not because he is a discredited doctor, but by the grit with which he could take the might of a whole nation to bounce back into prominence.
When I think of Andrew Wakefield, I acknowledge that Nothing is impossible on this Earth.
Dr Ramakanta's Ideas 