Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Views & Reviews Review of the Week

Trust me, I’m a scientist

BMJ 2009; 339 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b3658 (Published 09 September 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3658

Rapid Response:

Evidence is not bullying

John Stone

I really think that you can't grumble that the medical community failed to take the suspicions seriously. Huge amounts of time and money were spent on doing enormous surveys and no trace of a relationship was found.

Given the poor quality of the original research, now retracted, that isn't really surprising, but it was right that the effort was made. It is, incidentally, a very poor reflection on science journalism that the trials showing safety got nothing like the headlines that scare stories generated. Nevertheless, if you Google 'MMR autism evidence', it is easy to find.

I note, sadly, your declared interest. In your position it is natural to look for a scapegoat. The effort has been made and it seems exceedingly unlikely that vaccination was the scapegoat. The fact of the matter is that the origins of autism are not sufficiently understood to be able to say what caused it in your son. As so often, one has to say "I don't know". That must be frustrating, but it's the case.

I don't believe that there is any bullying. We are all trying to discover the truth of the matter. The evidence says very clearly that MMR is safe and it is effective. Should we not say so? To fail to say so would do harm because it would lead to a return of measles, of defects from congenital rubella syndrome, and of children who are made deaf by mumps. Please think of them.

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

17 September 2009
David Colquhoun
Research professor
UCL WC1E 6BT