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
Filed under: Commentary on news & events, Public health | Tagged: autism, global health, immunization, patient safety, Public health, vaccine | Leave a Comment »


mPedigree awarded $200,000 in Global Security Challenge
mPedigree was recently announced as the Best Security Start-up in 2010 by the Global Security Challenge. mPedigree from Ghana is the first system in the world which enables consumers and patients to verify the authenticity of their medicines by sending a free text message of the unique, product-embossed codes.
Across the developing world, especially in West Africa, the issue of fake and counterfeit medication has become a huge problem – the WHO estimates that in many emerging markets, up to 30% of drugs are compromised. The growing sophistication of cheap graphic software and hardware kit means that packaging, including traditional security features such as holograms, can be perfectly replicated by even smalltime counterfeit operators making the need for a highly robust but economically feasible system urgent.
While being just as robust as emerging methods such as EMID and RFID, and far more secure than holograms, the mPedigree approach is widely accessible through basic text messaging, requires no specialist equipment or training, is free to access for consumers, and a fraction of the price of holograms, and RFID and EMID techniques.
mPedigree has been awarded $200,000 sponsored by the Technical Support Working Group of the US Department of Defense and mentorship from Advent Venture Partners.
Filed under: Africa, Commentary on news & events, Counterfeit drugs, Innovation, Public health | Tagged: Africa, Counterfeit drugs, counterfeit medicines, global health, mobile health, patient safety, Public health | Leave a Comment »