Autism Study Deemed a Fraud

By Christopher Walker
Jan 7 2011

A study performed by a British doctor in 1998 was released in the US linked autism to childhood vaccinations. However, yesterday the study was found to be based on fraudulent information.

Andrew Wakefield, the UK doctor responsible for the study, was officially stripped of his medical license in May of 2010. Medical researchers started to question some of his conclusions based on studies that were performed on various diseases and disorders and published in US medical journals.

The main study that was questioned involved the link between autism and vaccinations. According to Wakefield, the vaccinations in the current combination were a trigger for autism. He claimed in his study that he followed the progress of twelve healthy children who developed autism after receiving their vaccinations. This was the information that he published and released to the US medical commissions.

However, the researchers that have been looking into the studies have found that the twelve children that Wakefield used for his studies were actually diagnosed with autism at birth in varying degrees. As such they determined that the findings of Wakefield were nothing more than an elaborate fraud.

Now the US medical associations are hoping to reeducate the parents of the world on the safety of the childhood vaccinations. Since 1998 the number of children vaccinated has dropped in the US because of the fear of autism.

Authorities believe that since the study has been proven a fraud that many parents will once again get their children vaccinated.