In case you missed this on the news, the British Medical Journal officially declared that Andrew Wakefield's research linking the MMR vaccine to autism was fraudulent. Sadly, children's lives have been put in danger and there is much work to be done to repair the damage this man has done.
Here is a quick summary of the events of the past 13 years (as outlined in the linked article below):
1998 - Andrew Wakefield and 12 others publish a paper claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and so begins the vaccine scare (note that the paper had a number of scientific limitations that were immediately evident...small sample size, dependent on parent recall, no controls).
1998-present - Research repeatedly demonstrated/continues to demonstrate no evidence of a link, but the vaccine scare continues.
2003-2004 - Vaccination rates hit an all time low (and they continue to remain lower than recommended World Heath Organization levels).
2004 - The first investigation into the research is published suggesting possible fraud and 10 co-authors retract the paper's interpretation.
2010 - Article retracted.
2011 - BMJ declares research fraudulent.
To read the full text article (British Medical Journal) click on the link below:
Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent
http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452.full
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