Published 22 June 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2435
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b2435

Feature

Public Health

Vaccine disputes

¹ London

As the BMA debates mandatory MMR vaccination to help stem the rising number of measles cases in the UK, Rebecca Coombes investigates the anti-MMR lobby in the UK and US

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

In 2008, paediatrician Paul Offit had a book published—not exactly uncommon for a doctor near the top of his specialty. But the situation was complicated for Dr Offit. As chief of the division of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he is the most prominent—and some would say most fearless—spokesperson for vaccine science and safety in the United States today. His book Autism’s False Prophets (see Review of the Week, BMJ 2009;338:b2537, doi:), deals with the false alarm that vaccines cause autism and how antivaccine activists, and an easily duped media, are sowing the seeds of a health scare similar to, if not worse than, the one that the UK is just recovering from. So inflammatory is this issue that Dr Offit opted out of the big city publicity tour that is usual for most authors.

"I do radio and television but not appearances in book stores. I’ve . . . [Full text of this article]

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