Dr Andrew Wakefield, the expert at the centre of the MMR controversy, "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant" and showed a "callous disregard" for the suffering of children involved in his research, the General Medical Council (GMC) has ruled.
Wakefield also acted dishonestly and was misleading and irresponsible in the way he described research that was later published in the Lancet medical journal, the GMC said. He had gone against the interests of children in his care, and his conduct brought the medical profession "into disrepute" after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son's birthday party in return for payments of £5.
OK, you can't see me right now, so you'll have to imagine it, but I just threw my hands up in the air and went "woo hoo." And wiggled around in my chair a bit.
(You may have gathered that vaccines are a pet topic of mine.)
Wakefield is to actual medicine what L. Ron Hubbard is to religion (not that I'm a fan of organized religion in general, but his "church" isn't even that.). He's a hack who started a movement that is actively harmful to both its adherents and its non-adherents.
Oh, and both groups resort to harassment, libel, slander, and frivolous lawsuits to shut people who actually know what they're talking about up.
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
Tis more flameboard material, IMHO. So is the Pat Robertson thread too....
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
And so we're seing a return of Polio and Chickenpox fatalities as well-meaning -but gullible- parents refuse to get their children immunized.
Posted by HopefulNebula (Member # 1933) on :
And measles (measles encephalitis is deadly, and it's much more common in adults, which means that as unvaccinated kids grow up into a world where there's less herd immunity, the death rate will rise), and whooping cough... You know, all those "harmless" childhood diseases.
I remain convinced that any parent who hears what whooping cough sounds like and thinks it's "harmless" has either no heart or no brains.