The recent history of autism and autism research has been dominated by a legend – Andrew Wakefield. The former British physician turned rogue Texas cowboy has been a lightning rod for controversy – on this everyone can agree.
We know that Andrew Wakefield pioneered the early hypothesis that the MMR vaccine caused autism. He was the author on the original Lancet study that struck fear into the hearts of millions of parents – causing tens of thousands of them to skip immunizations. His study single handedly led to the resurgence of measles.
There was just one problem – it was all a fraud. The Lancet has since fully retracted the article as a sham. Dr. Wakefield’s co-authors have apologized and accepted accountability for their actions. The methods of the paper did not have scientific rigor and it appears that much of the data was fabricated. And, earlier this week, Dr. Wakefield’s medical license in the UK has been stripped.
The loss of his medical license in the UK hasn’t been that much of a problem since Dr. Wakefield hasn’t been practicing medicine in Europe for years. Instead, he’s been practicing medicine without a license in Texas at the Thoughtful House Center for Children. In February, just days after I wrote The Great Autism Fraud, Dr. Wakefield “resigned” from Thoughtful House (resigned being a nice euphemism for sacked).
Despite the tremendous personal embarrassment of being caught fabricating scientific evidence and being exposed as the greatest medical fraud of the last 20 years, Dr. Andrew Wakefield may have the last laugh. His new book Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines: The Truth Behind a Tragedy hits bookstores on May 26th. While not expected to be a bestseller, it will have a devoted following among the legions of parents that will believe a modern snake oil salesman. Since Dr. Wakefield won’t be able to make money as a doctor doing tests on children, he’ll be able to make some easy cash off book sales. There’s some good news for readers of the book, they will be treated to a special forward in the book by Jenny McCarthy – the discoverer of the Cure for Autism.
The life story of Andrew Wakefield is as timeless as life itself – it’s nothing more than the rise and fall of a fraud.
