- Chief Medical Officer Comments On Mmr Vaccine - No Evidence To Support
Giving Vaccine In Separate Doses. Department
of Health Press Release 98/090 Thursday 12th March 1998
- MMR vaccine. The combined vaccine for children and its disputed harmful
side-effects are continuing to divide medical experts. Sarah Left explains.
Friday February 9, 2001
- Comment. Preventing killer diseases. The fall in
MMR vaccinations is fatal. The national health service will be accused
of bully-boy tactics. Ministers will be asked to intervene. A former GP
who has been offering parents separate measles, mumps and rubella vaccines,
rather than the single MMR jab, has been reported by the Worcester health
authority to the general medical council. This will reignite the furious row
over the safety of the MMR vaccine, but where better to settle it than in
front of the medical profession's conduct committee? Guardian
Unlimited Tuesday August 7, 2001
- Come on, Tony: has Leo had his MMR? Guardian
Society. Thursday December 20, 2001
- One of Labour's leading scientists at Westminster yesterday broke ranks in
the row over the triple MMR vaccination and said that ministers should set an
example and confirm that their children have had the controversial jab. Guardian
Society
Saturday December 22, 2001
- Poll finds disapproval of Blair's stance over MMR vaccine. Guardian
Monday February 4, 2002
- Public health minister Yvette Cooper today denied speculation of a
government review of the MMR vaccine, as test results were expected on another
22 suspected cases of measles. Guardian
Unlimited Wednesday February 6, 2002
- Tory call for single jabs. Guardian
Unlimited Wednesday February 6, 2002
- Q&A: measles and MMR As fears of a measles epidemic grow, Patrick Butler
examines whether parents should be worried. Guardian
Society Wednesday February 6, 2002
- The prime minister hit out at "scaremongering" over the MMR
vaccine, as eight new measles cases were confirmed in south London. He said
government advice that the MMR vaccine was safer than using individual jabs
was backed by leading health professionals. Guardian
Unlimited Thursday February 7, 2002
- The facts. Sarah Boseley Guardian
Thursday February 7, 2002
- Defiant parents stand by decision No regrets from sceptics despite their
children catching measles. Rebecca Allison Guardian
Thursday February 7, 2002
- Needled Tony should rethink on the MMR jab. Catherine Bennett Guardian
Thursday February 7, 2002
- 'This is just not an issue in France...' Jon Henley in Paris. Observer
Sunday February 10, 2002. My son Nathan was one last month and is,
according to the handy vaccination calendar sent to all parents by the
French national health service, due for the MMR jab. The shot is fully
reimbursable, and while not compulsory is 'strongly recommended'.
- Who can we believe these days? Our once automatic trust in medical
authority has gone, leaving parents in agonies of uncertainty about what is
best for their children Andrew Rawnsley Observer
Sunday February 10, 2002
- MMR and autism. Observer
letters Sunday February 17, 2002
- Three out of four parents favour single jabs for MMR. Alan Travis,
home affairs editor Guardian
Wednesday February 20, 2002
- Minister outlines steps to boost image of MMR jabs. Lucy Ward,
political correspondent Guardian
Thursday February 21, 2002
- Measles returns to Scotland. Guardian
Society Wednesday March 13, 2002
- MMR row resurfaces. Guardian
Monday June 17, 2002
- Ken Livingstone yesterday provoked the fury of the public health
establishment when he advised London parents not to give their children the
MMR vaccination but to opt for single jabs instead. Lucy Ward
and John Carvel The
Guardian Wednesday July 3, 2002
- Demand surges for MMR single vaccines. James Meikle, health
correspondent Guardian
Wednesday August 7, 2002
- Most MMR studies are meaningless, investigation claims. Sophie
Petit-Zeman
Sunday
October 6, 2002 The Observer
- Study finds no autism link to MMR. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday November 7, 2002 The Guardian
- Hundreds of children may have been given ineffective vaccines against
measles, mumps or rubella by private clinics offering single-shot alternatives
to the combined MMR immunisation. James Meikle, health correspondent
Monday
February 10, 2003 The Guardian
- More than half the population believe wrongly that medical experts were
split down the middle about the safety of the MMR vaccine, according to a new
survey. Almost all scientific experts rejected the claim of a link between MMR
and autism, but 53% of those surveyed at the height of the media coverage
assumed that because both sides of the debate received equal media coverage,
there must be equal evidence for each. Polly Curtis
Tuesday
May 20, 2003 The Guardian
- The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) today ejected a press conference on a
study that showed a link between the MMR jab and autism from its headquarters
because it feared being seen as endorsing the findings.
Tuesday May 20, 2003
- The high court ruled today that two girls should be given the
controversial MMR vaccination against the wishes of their mothers, after their
fathers fought to have the girls immunised.
Friday June 13, 2003
- Family doctors today called on the government's chief medical officers to
resign for their "lamentable failure" to convince the public that the MMR
triple vaccine was safe.
Friday June 13, 2003
- Two mothers were yesterday ordered to ensure their daughters were given
the controversial measles, mumps and rubella vaccine after tug-of-love
disputes with the girls' fathers. James Meikle, health correspondent
Saturday June 14, 2003 The Guardian
- Up to 40,000 children may have to be revaccinated with the combined MMR
jab after it emerged yesterday that two clinics giving separate measles, mumps
and rubella immunisations did not follow correct procedures.
Wednesday July 9, 2003 The Guardian
- Apparent increases in autism cases, which helped to fuel controversy over
the MMR jab, might simply have been caused by better and earlier diagnosis and
awareness of the condition, researchers say today. James Meikle
Tuesday July 22, 2003 The Guardian
- Two mothers today lost a legal battle to prevent their daughters from
receiving the controversial measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab after a
dispute with the girls' fathers.
Wednesday July 30, 2003
- Mapping the autistic mind. The High Court has dismissed claims about the
MMR jab as 'junk science'. But if vaccines aren't to blame, what else are
scientists investigating? Jo Revill
Sunday August 3, 2003 The Observer
- Measles could be about to make a comeback. According to research published
today outbreaks in England and Wales have grown since 1998 as more parents
have refused the triple-jab MMR vaccine for their babies. Tim Radford, science
editor
Friday August 8, 2003 The Guardian
- MMR vaccination rates hit an all-time low earlier this year, according to
figures released yesterday. But a health minister insisted the underlying
trend was improving. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Saturday September 27, 2003 The Guardian
- The courtroom battle over whether the MMR vaccine can trigger childhood
autism - which would have pitted the scientist behind the theory, Andrew
Wakefield, against public health experts - was called off yesterday after the
parents involved lost their legal funding. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday October 2, 2003 The Guardian
- Hundreds of parents who claim their children were damaged by the MMR triple
vaccine are to challenge the decision to withdraw legal aid funding for their
court battle. Clare Dyer
Tuesday October 7, 2003 The Guardian
- One of the authors of the controversial scientific paper that sparked a
scare over the MMR vaccination has warned of measles epidemics this winter
because of parents boycotting the jab. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday October 31, 2003 The Guardian
- The long-running controversy over the MMR vaccination turned unexpectedly
into an extraordinary public battle of words yesterday between two doctors
responsible for the research paper which began the scare five years ago. Sarah
Boseley, health editor
Saturday November 1, 2003 The Guardian
- Facts and figures. James Meikle
Saturday November 1, 2003 The Guardian
- A further dose of MMR. Letters
Thursday November 6, 2003 The Guardian
- Saint Mum, Saint Doctor and the evil MMR. Mark Lawson
Monday December 8, 2003 The Guardian
- Channel Five's new drama about the link between MMR and autism makes great
TV. But it gets the story, and the science, disastrously wrong. How did we get
to such a level of confusion and hysteria about this vaccine? Ben Goldacre
unravels the real MMR story.
Thursday December 11, 2003 The Guardian
- Trust me, I'm a doctor. Gareth McLean
Tuesday December 16, 2003 The Guardian
- The number of children immunised with the controversial combined measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine has risen for the first time in more than a year,
according to the national agency that tackles infectious diseases.
Tuesday January 27, 2004
- The government will today face demands for an independent inquiry into how a
researcher linked the MMR jab to autism, after the disclosure that he failed to
declare conflicts of interest six years ago. James Meikle, health
correspondent
Monday February 23, 2004 The Guardian
- Dr Andrew Wakefield became the focus of MMR campaigners after leading
research which suggested a link with autism and bowel disease. Now he faces a
professional inquiry after a conflict of interest was exposed. David Batty
reports.
Monday February 23, 2004
- 'Colossal damage has been done.' The doctor who linked the vaccine to
autism is investigated.
Monday
February 23, 2004 The Guardian
- Claim that MMR work mixed science and spin. James Meikle, health
correspondent
Tuesday
February 24, 2004 The Guardian
- The MMR scandal shows a business riddled with conflicts of interest. George
Monbiot
Tuesday February 24, 2004 The Guardian
- Andrew Wakefield had a job at the prestigious Royal Free hospital in London
and a promising career ahead of him in February 1998 when the Lancet published
his research paper which hypothesised a link between bowel disease in children
and autism. Six years on, he has neither. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday
February 24, 2004 The Guardian
- Eight in 10 parents think MMR is safe. Roxanne Escobales and agencies
Friday February 27, 2004
- Scientists and parents called today for more research into the causes of
autism, claiming the condition itself had been overshadowed by the debate over
the controversial MMR vaccine.
Tuesday March 2, 2004
- Ten authors of a medical research paper that first suggested a link between
the MMR vaccine and autism have formally disassociated themselves from the idea
six years later. James Meikle
Thursday March 4, 2004 The Guardian
- The enormous demand for single vaccines, as Britain faces a mumps epidemic
among its teenagers, is fuelling a booming black market in the medicines, an
Observer investigation can reveal. Thousands of parents are queueing for a
single shot of the mumps vaccine, with some of them being charged £140 a shot,
because they are unwilling for their children to have the combined MMR vaccine.
But government and pharmaceutical restrictions on the importation of the vaccine
has led to unscrupulous trading in the vaccines, with doctors telling The
Observer how it is being brought in via the 'back door' at Heathrow,
contravening import rules. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday
July 11, 2004 The Observer
- While parents continue to shun MMR, Jo Revill investigates the lucrative
trade in anti-mumps jabs.
Sunday
July 11, 2004 The Observer
- Changes to child immunisations are expected to come into effect next month,
it emerged yesterday. Mark Oliver talks to new parents about the new mandatory
'five in one' jab. Health authorities say the key changes will affect the DTP
vaccinations (comprising diphtheria, tetanus, polio and taken with others). The
main "driver for change", they insist is that the oral "live" polio vaccine,
will now be an injection to reduce the very small risk of contracting the
disease from the vaccine. But it also emerged that a mercury-based preservative
- linked to autism in one disputed US study - will be taken out of the whooping
cough vaccine, which is taken with DTP, although the government stresses this
was not dangerous.
Monday
August 9, 2004
- Leaders of Britain's childhood immunisation programme yesterday urged
parents to continue taking their babies for jabs as they announced big changes
to the vaccine components. Polio, previously taken as drops, will now join a
combination injection already designed to protect against diptheria, tetanus,
whooping cough and Hib, an infection that can cause blood poisoning, pneumonia
and meningitis. The mercury-based thiom ersal, a preservative used with the
whooping cough vaccine, would also be dropped, but not, officials insisted, on
safety grounds. James Meikle, health correspondent
Tuesday August 10, 2004 The Guardian
- Putting public good before personal risk. Scare stories too easily make us
forget the triumphs of mass vaccination and the horrors of pandemics. James
Meikle, health correspondent
Tuesday August 10, 2004 The Guardian.
- Jabs for life. Leader
Tuesday August 10, 2004 The Guardian
- Cracks in public confidence. Dr Ann Robinson
Wednesday August
11, 2004 The Guardian
- Careless TV costs lives, as the over-hyped vaccine scares have shown. Polly
Toynbee
Wednesday August 11, 2004 The Guardian
- A doctor whose clinics gave thousands of children separate jabs in the wake
of the MMR triple vaccine scare was jailed yesterday for faking results of blood
tests to conceal the fact some inoculations had been ineffective. James Meikle,
health correspondent
Thursday
December 23, 2004 The Guardian
- About 90,000 new university students will be warned to have the MMR jab
before starting their courses, in an unprecedented attempt to stem the mumps
epidemic sweeping across campuses. James Meikle, health correspondent
Monday July
11, 2005 The Guardian
- Siobhan O'Neill was told the new five-in-one jab might leave her daughter
irritable for a day or two. No one mentioned the possibility of serious
side-effects lasting up to a week.
Wednesday August 24, 2005 The Guardian
- The MMR vaccine has been cleared of causing long-term developmental
problems, such as autism, in what is claimed to be the most systematic review of
evidence concerning the effectiveness and safety of the jab. James Meikle,
health correspondent
Wednesday
October 19, 2005 The Guardian
- At last - the end of the MMR myth. Dr Simon Atkins on why it's safe to give
jabs.
Thursday October 20, 2005 The Guardian
- A group of Britain's leading paediatricians and childhood vaccination
experts has warned that more children will die unless a line is drawn under the
autism and MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine controversy. In an open
letter, 30 scientists, including some of the country's most eminent child health
experts, say that an overwhelming body of evidence shows the vaccine is safe.
They add that urgent immunisations are necessary to prevent potentially
devastating outbreaks among schoolchildren. Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday
June 27, 2006 The Guardian
- Further evidence has emerged to disprove a link between MMR jabs and autism.
Scientists in Canada found that more children developed the disorder after MMR
take-up decreased and thimerosal - a compound that is 49% mercury and was
thought to have been linked to autism - was eliminated from vaccines. The study,
by researchers at McGill University Health Centre, confirms the findings of a
Japanese study last year. The new research, which assessed 28,000 children,
found that after thimerosal was phased out in Quebec in 1996, the autism rate
rose from 52 per 10,000 to 70 per 10,000. Sarah Hall
Thursday
July 6, 2006 The Guardian
- Private providers
stung by vaccine data failures. Private providers of single measles, mumps
and rubella vaccines have come in for stinging criticism from NHS GPs and the
Health Protection Agency (HPA) over their inability to produce accurate data.
The HPA has attempted to estimate the contribution of single vaccines to
protection in the overall population. Researchers identified 27 providers in
England and Wales via internet searches and the Medicines and Healthcare
Products Regulation Agency. But only nine of the clinics provided any data, and
none were able to produce all the data requested. It was impossible to find out
how many children had received all doses of each vaccine, said Dr Natasha
Crowcroft, consultant epidemiologist at the HPA. 'Despite concerted effort and
long delays, data were only received from one-third of the providers,' she said.
'I'd say we weren't surprised but were disappointed, and recommend the
Healthcare Commission sets the same standard of data collection and reporting by
private clinics as is required of the NHS.' Dr George Kassianos, a Berkshire GP
and RCGP vaccination spokesman, said: 'What this study demonstrates is that, due
to the high costs [of single vaccines], parents choose what to have for their
children so most only receive one vaccine - measles - and many will not have the
second dose. These children's NHS notes are incomplete, their immunity to these
diseases is incomplete or non-existent, and the only thing certain is the profit
the providers are making.'
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Doctor
17 April 2007
- New health fears over big surge in autism The number of children in
Britain with autism is far higher than previously thought, according to dramatic
new evidence by the country's leading experts in the field. A study, as yet
unpublished, shows that as many as one in 58 children may have some form of the
condition, a lifelong disability that leads to many sufferers becoming isolated
because they have trouble making friends and often display obsessional
behaviour. Seven academics at Cambridge University, six of them from its
renowned Autism Research Centre, undertook the research by studying children at
local primary schools. Two of the academics, leaders in their field, privately
believe that the surprisingly high figure may be linked to the use of the
controversial MMR vaccine. That view is rejected by the rest of the team,
including its leader, the renowned autism expert, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.
Denis Campbell, health correspondent
Sunday
July 8, 2007 The Observer [See 18 July 2007]
- I told the truth all along, says doctor at heart of autism row. In
his only interview before he appears in front of the General Medical Council to
face serious charges of malpractice, the campaigner against the MMR vaccine
[Andrew Wakefield ] tells Denis Campbell that he has no regrets.
Sunday
July 8, 2007 The Observer
- Doctor at centre of MMR controversy accused of paying children at party
for blood samples. The doctor who linked the MMR jab to autism,
prompting one of the biggest medical controversies of the past 10 years, paid
children attending his son's birthday party to donate their blood for his
research, it was alleged yesterday. The charge is one of more than 40 laid
against Andrew Wakefield, a surgeon who became a gastroenterologist, at the
General Medical Council yesterday. Many of them related to giving children
interventions such as lumbar punctures, barium meals and colonoscopies which
allegedly they did not need. Mr Wakefield is facing a GMC hearing which is
expected to last 14 weeks with two colleagues from the Royal Free hospital,
where he worked - Professor John Walker-Smith and Professor Simon Murch. All
three deny serious professional misconduct. The episode at the birthday party
involved Mr Wakefield alone. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday
July 17, 2007 The Guardian
- The doctor who sparked the MMR vaccination debate. David Batty
examines the career of Andrew Wakefield, the doctor at the centre of the row
over the triple MMR vaccine.
Monday July 16, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
- MMR scare doctor 'breached fundamental rules'. Vulnerable children
were subjected to "inappropriate and invasive" tests by a doctor who prompted
one of the biggest health controversies of the past 10 years, it was alleged
today. Andrew Wakefield, who linked the MMR vaccine to autism, was described at
a General Medical Council (GMC) fitness panel as having breached "some of the
most fundamental rules of medicine". Dr Wakefield's role was as a research
doctor, and he had no paediatric qualifications entitling him to carry out tests
on 12 children with bowel disorders without them undergoing proper neurological
or psychiatric assessments beforehand, the hearing was told. The tests allegedly
included colonoscopies, lumbar punctures, blood and urine tests, MRI scans and
barium meals. These investigations, carried out between 1996 and 1998, formed
the basis for a paper in the Lancet medical journal in February 1998 suggesting
a link between the measles, mumps and rubella jab and bowel disease and autism.
The paper seriously damaged public confidence in the vaccine, leading to falling
numbers of parents immunising their children and to a row over whether the then
prime minister, Tony Blair, had vaccinated his son Leo. Dr Wakefield, who now
lives and works in Texas, is charged with serious professional misconduct
alongside the co-authors of the study, professors John Walker-Smith and Simon
Murch. The GMC was told that Prof Walker-Smith also carried out highly invasive
tests "contrary to the interests of the children", but that Prof Murch, who
carried out the colonoscopies on the childrenm, had played a "more peripheral"
role in the research. The trio, who worked at the Royal Free hospital in
north-west London at the time of the alleged incidents, face being struck off
but deny serious professional misconduct. Sally Smith QC, for the GMC, told the
panel there had been a "blurring of the boundaries" between research and
clinical medicine that led to Dr Wakefield being "very inappropriately involved
in the clinical care of children when he was not paediatrically qualified". She
claimed one of the 12 children was given an "experimental substance" which had
not been subjected to the necessary safety checks. Dr Wakefield was accused of
trying to patent the substance to be used both therapeutically and as a vaccine.
The three doctors did not comply with rules set by the hospital's ethics
committee on how the research should be carried out. "As a result of that, very
vulnerable children were subjected to inappropriate and invasive treatment," Ms
Smith said. Ms Smith pointed to breaches of "fundamental rules in medicine" such
as the requirement to declare conflicts of interest. A key claim is that Dr
Wakefield accepted £50,000 from the legal aid board for research to support
parents' attempts to fight for compensation. That payment, to produce evidence
to assist parents fighting MMR litigation, was a direct conflict of interest
with the results of the study he then published in the Lancet, Ms Smith claimed.
The panel heard yesterday that Dr Wakefield was accused of paying children £5
for blood samples at his son's birthday party and then joking about it
afterwards - one of 40 charges levelled against him. The 50-year-old doctor was
said to have showed "callous disregard for the distress and pain" that he knew
or ought to have known the children might suffer as a result of his
actions.Haroon Siddique and agencies
Tuesday
July 17, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
- The MMR story that wasn't. Whatever you think about Andrew Wakefield,
the real villains of the MMR scandal are the media. Just one week before his GMC
hearing, yet another factless "MMR causes autism" news story appeared: and even
though it ran on the front page of our very own
Observer, I am dismantling it on this page. We're all grown-ups around here.
The story made three key points: that new research has found an increase in the
prevalence of autism to one in 58; that the lead academic on this study was so
concerned he suggested raising the finding with public heath officials; and that
two "leading researchers" on the team believe that the rise was due to MMR.
Within a week the story had been recycled in several national newspapers, and
the news pages of at least one academic journal. But where did the facts come
from? I contacted the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge: the study the
Observer reported is not finished, and not published. The data has been
collected, but it has not been analysed. Unpublished data is the antithesis of
what science is about: transparency, where anyone can appraise the methods, and
the results, and draw their own conclusions. This study is the perfect example
of why this is important: it was specifically designed to look at how different
methods of assessing prevalence affected the final figure. So it is no surprise
that one of the results from an early analysis is high, "one in 58", using
techniques which deliberately cast the widest net. But even other figures in the
initial analysis were less dramatic, and similar to current estimates, and the
Observer admits it was aware of them. It seems it simply cherry picked the
single most extreme number and made it a front page splash story. Ben Goldacre
Wednesday July 18, 2007 The Guardian
- The Observer and autism: a clarification.
Sunday
July 22, 2007 The Observer
- Plea to parents to take up jabs amid measles surge. Childhood
infections trebled in past 11 weeks. Both doses of MMR jab crucial, says
paediatrician. Public health officials last night issued an appeal for parents
to vaccinate their children against measles, amid fears of an outbreak during
the new school term. The move follows a surge in children diagnosed with the
disease over the summer, with cases more than trebling in the past 11 weeks.
There have been 480 confirmed cases of measles in the UK so far this year,
compared with 756 cases during all of 2006 (the most recorded in a single year),
according to the Health Protection Agency. The agency said there had been nearly
350 cases confirmed over the summer, when infections were usually at their
lowest. The outbreaks were in the geographical areas with the lowest take-up of
the MMR jab, which vaccinates against measles, mumps and rubella. Public
confidence in the jab had fallen over concerns about its safety. Polly Curtis,
health correspondent
Friday
August 31, 2007 The Guardian
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