In 1998, many of us were shocked and scared by the idea that we may have subjected our children to autism by giving them vaccines. A study published by English physician Andrew Wakefield drew the infamous conclusion that vaccines were the cause in the increased number of children diagnosed with autism world-wide. Friends of mine with autistic children beat themselves up after learning of the study results, feeling guilty and depressed over the heart-breaking news that they may have given their child autism by getting them immunized with vaccines. How were they to know? Their child’s pediatrician told them it was the “standard of care” for new borns. “How could I have done this to my child?” they would ask repeatedly. The anger, the regrets, and the guilt were all as real as the colorful British journal that contained Wakefield’s study results in1998.
Thousands of lawsuits against drug companies resulted with Wakefield’s study as the basis for the claims. Vaccine manufacturers had little choice but to stop making vaccines to avoid possibly hurting more children. There was a world-wide shortage of vaccines. An epidemics of measles, mumps and rubella have developed as a result, particularly in Europe. Parents stopped immunizing their children in England and many parts of the United States.
British journalist Brian Deer didn’t believe the study despite the persuasive journal article. He spent years reviewing the medical records he could obtain and comparing it to the study data. Startling, I imagine, to even Mr. Deer was the clear cut manipulation of the data by the scientists who had conducted the study. The results were false, created by changing the statistical model. The changes were repeated and systematic. It could not have been by mistake. Deer had discovered one of the largest medical study frauds in history.
No governmental bodies had reviewed the actual data and assumed that the thirteen physicians who worked on the study would have conducted the study correctly. When the data manipulation was shown to British regulatory authorities, they were persuaded by Deer’s findings. They conducted a study on 1.8 million immunized individuals and found absolutely no link between vaccinations and autism. None.
The study was indeed “an elaborate fraud,” as described by one British journal. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the lead physician on the thirteen doctor team, lost his medical license. Ten of the thirteen doctors retracted their name from the article. Wakefield denies the manipulation despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
In the Ethics Follies shows, which teach ethics through music and comedy, we often lampoon corporate leadership for promoting unethical behavior. But it is a rare event that a medical professional puts his own personal fame and wealth ahead of millions of other people’s health. One dishonest act of altering facts from medical records resulted in epidemics of disease and a very strong belief shared by many countries that is not based on reality. I have to believe that the lack of medical ethics crosses over into the moral arena of discussion in that the pain suffered by parents of autistic children who wrongly believe they played a role in giving their child autism is more universal than a corporate crime. It impacts every parent who has loved a child. In some ways, the lies of Wakefield are the most heinous because the damage they caused is so deep in hearts of so many parents of autistic children around the world.
Dr. Nancy Snyderman did a nice job summarizing this story on the Today Show. Click here to watch the short video segment.