MMR AND AUTISM: Oh Deer

The General Medical Council, the governing body for doctors in the UK, is determined to strip Dr Andrew Wakefield of his licence.
Dr Wakefield postulated in 1998 that the MMR vaccine could be a cause of autism, since when mass immunisation levels have dropped dramatically.
Dr Wakefield, who now works in Texas, faces four charges that are based on his initial paper, which was published in The Lancet. The GMC accuses him of publishing ‘inadequately founded’ research, of failing to obtain ethical committee approval, of obtaining funding ‘improperly’, and of subjecting children to ‘unnecessary and invasive investigations’.
The move is undoubtedly malicious, and is fuelled by a media witch-hunt, led by Sunday Times journalist Brian Deer, who has openly told people that he is intent on ‘destroying’ Wakefield.
For his part, Dr Wakefield welcomes an investigation, and is only sorry that it has taken so long to be heard.
He has always maintained that the allegations against him are baseless. “It is a matter of fact that we found and reported inflammation in the intestines of these children (the 12 who were the subject of the study)”, he says, a discovery that was recently replicated by researchers at Wake Forest University, who found remnants of the measles vaccine in the guts of 85 per cent of autistic children.
The GMC are in a ‘no win’ position. If Dr Wakefield proves that the charges are unsubstantiated, it will add weight to his theory. If they succeed in taking away his licence, he will become a martyr. Just ask Galileo.