Wrong About Vaccine Safety: A Review of Andrew Wakefield’s “Callous Disregard”

Abstract

On February 28, 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article in the Lancet on 12 children "with a history of pervasive developmental disorder and intestinal symptoms. Onset of behavioral symptoms was associated, by the parents, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination in eight of the 12 children." Though not claiming the MMR vaccine caused the symptoms, adding what parents thought certainly raised the possibility. Statements and articles by Wakefield suggested he believed such a link probable. Vaccination rates plummeted in the UK and outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases followed. Investigative journalist Brian Deer uncovered dishonest and unethical medical practices by Wakefield, resulting in Wakefield losing his medical license. Rather than appeal the decision, Wakefield wrote a book, "Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines-The Truth Behind a Tragedy," wherein he claims loss of his license was a political attempt to silence his criticism of vaccine safety. This paper examines the validity of Wakefield's claims. A careful review of publicly available information makes it clear that Wakefield's claims regarding vaccine safety are wrong. It is hoped that this review will be used by doctors and public health personnel to encourage parents hesitating to have their children vaccinated to question anti-vaccination claims in general, given that many proponents often refer to Wakefield as an authority and display in their own writings and pronouncements similar erroneous claims.

An overview of FDA-approved vaccines & their innovators

“…Such skepticism is not new as similar mistrust of vaccines plagued variolation, the Jenner vaccine and many other vaccine innovations over the years [27]. Irrational concerns about the safety of vaccines was propagated in recent years by an irresponsible and fraudulent report linking vaccination with childhood developmental diseases and misinformation persists despite overwhelming evidence refuting the retracted report [28–30]. Some critics have cited the withdrawal of vaccines, such as those for Lyme disease and rotavirus infection as indirect evidence of harm done [31, 32].…”

The Uses and Misuses of Philosophical Scepticism

“…Now we know that it was a complete fake. Wakefield had no empirical data at all indicating any connection between the vaccine and autism (Deer, , ; Harrison, ). But in spite of this, anti‐vaccination activists have continued to claim that there is a connection, or at least remaining scientific uncertainty on the issue.…”

Statistics, Biomedicine and Scientific Fraud

“…Further investigations on the leading author uncovered dishonest and unethical medical practices, resulting in losing his medical license. Although a careful review of publicly available information makes it clear that Wakefield's claims regarding vaccine safety are wrong [33,34], vaccination rates plummeted in the United Kingdom from 92% in 1996/1997 to 80% in 2003/2004 [35], and outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases followed [36,37]. Measles remains of high clinical importance given that: i) infection leads to long-lasting immune suppression; ii) complications are of high frequency and severity; iii) there is no specific antiviral treatment; iv) vaccination is effective, cost-effective, and safe, with no demonstrated link between the measles vaccination and autism; v) can be eliminated from a population requiring a coverage with 2 doses of vaccine at rates of 93% to 95%; and vi) endemic transmission can be reestablished if rates of vaccination fall below the elimination threshold [34].…”