Vaccine link to autism based on falsified data

The controversial study linking the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism was based on falsified data and “manufactured at a London medical school,” according to a report in the British Medical Journal.  The investigative report includes a number of findings which suggest that the team at the Royal Free medical school, led by Andrew Wakefield, were not guilty of bad scientific practice but in fact engaged in deliberate fraud.

Wakefield et al sparked a major health scare when their paper was first published in The Lancet in 1998 linking MMR vaccine to a syndrome characterised by autism and bowel disease, with the after effects still apparent to this day.

Articles, editorials, tweets and other posts about this scientific fraud have been widely published following the release of this report, including:

• PharmaTimes - MMR link to autism based on falsified data, says BMJ study
• National Post editorial board: Lying about autism
• TIME – Study Linking Vaccines to Autism Is “Fraudulent”
• The Telegraph - The MMR scare was ‘deliberate fraud’ the British Medical Journal has said
• The Times of India - Study linking childhood vaccine to autism a fraud