BMJ  2004;328:483 (28 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7438.483-a

News

Pressure mounts for inquiry into MMR furore

BMJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Pressure was mounting this week for a full inquiry after the revelation that the lead investigator in a controversial UK study on alleged links between autism, bowel disease, and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine had failed to disclose that he was also carrying out investigations for lawyers hoping to sue over vaccine damage.

Andrew Wakefield's study of 12 children, published in the Lancet ( 1998;351: 637)[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline], provoked a huge media controversy that was followed by a substantial fall-off in the percentage of children given the triple vaccine.

Last week the Lancet's editor, Richard Horton, said he would not have published the paper had he known that Dr Wakefield had a contract for up to £55 000 ($102 700; 81 800) from the legal aid board (now the legal services commission) to carry out tests on 10 children for a group action against vaccine manufacturers. Dr Wakefield . . . [Full text of this article]

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