Andrew Wakefield, the gastroenterologist whose suggestion of a link between autism, bowel disease and the measles virus sparked a UK wide scare over the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, has been found guilty of dishonesty and irresponsibility by the General Medical Council.

The UK regulator held that Dr Wakefield abused his position, subjected children to intrusive procedures such as lumbar puncture and colonoscopy that were not clinically indicated, carried out research which flouted the conditions of ethics committee approval and brought the medical profession into disrepute.

One of the biggest public health scares in UK history was triggered by Dr Wakefield’s study …