MMR Doctor Given Legan Aid
ANDREW WAKEFIELD, the former surgeon whose campaign linking the MMR vaccine with autism caused a collapse in immunisation rates, was paid more than £400,000 by lawyers trying to prove that the vaccine was unsafe.
The payments, unearthed by The Sunday Times, were part of £3.4m distributed from the legal aid fund to doctors and scientists who had been recruited to support a now failed lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers.
Critics this weekend voiced amazement at the sums, which they said created a clear conflict of interest and were the “financial engine” behind a worldwide alarm over the triple measles, mumps and rubella shot.
“These figures are astonishing,” said Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon.
“This lawsuit was an industry, and an industry peddling what turned out to be a myth.”
According to the figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, Wakefield was paid £435,643 in fees, plus £3,910 expenses.
Wakefield’s work for the lawyers began two years before he published his now notorious report in The Lancet medical journal in February 1998, proposing a link between the vaccine and autism.
This suggestion, followed by a campaign led by Wakefield, caused immunisation rates to slump from 92% to 78.9%, although they have since partly recovered. In March this year the first British child in 14 years died from measles.
Later The Lancet retracted Wakefield’s claim and apologised after a Sunday Times investigation showed that his research had been backed with £55,000 from lawyers, and that the children in the study used as evidence against the vaccine were also claimants in the lawsuit.
At the time Wakefield denied any conflict of interest and said that the money went to his hospital, not to him personally. No disclosure was made, however, of the vastly greater sums that he was receiving directly from the lawyers.
The bulk of the amount in the new figures, released by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), covers an eight to 10-year period. All payments had to be approved by the courts.
Those who received money include numerous Wakefield associates, business partners and employees who had acted as experts in the case.
Five of his former colleagues at the Royal Free hospital, north London, under whose aegis The Lancet paper was written, received a total of £183,000 in fees, according to the LSC.
Wakefield now runs a business in Austin, Texas, two of whose employees are listed as receiving a total of £112,000 in fees, while a Florida physician, who appointed the former surgeon as his “director of research”, was paid £21,600, the figures show.
All have appeared in media reports as apparently confirming Wakefield’s claims.
It is understood that the payments — for writing reports, attending meetings and in some cases carrying out research — were made at hourly rates varying between £120 and £200, or £1,000 a day.
“There was a huge conflict of interest,” said Dr John March, an animal vaccine specialist who was among those recruited. “It bothered me quite a lot because I thought, well, if I’m getting paid for doing this, then surely it’s in my interest to keep it going as long as possible.”
March, who the LSC allowed almost £90,000 to research an aspect of Wakefield’s theories, broke ranks this weekend to denounce both the science of the attack and the amount that the case had cost in lawyers’ and experts’ fees.
“The ironic thing is they were always going on about how, you know, how we’ve hardly got any money compared with the other side, who are funded by large pharmaceutical companies. And I’m thinking, judging by the amounts of money you’re paying out, the other side must be living like millionaires,” he said.
Also among those named as being paid from the legal aid fund was a referee for one of Wakefield’s papers, who was allowed £40,000. A private GP who runs a single vaccines clinic received £6,000, the LSC says.
Following The Sunday Times investigation, immunisation rates have risen and the General Medical Council launched an inquiry. This is due to culminate in a three-month hearing next summer, where Wakefield faces charges — which he denies — of dishonesty over his research.
The LSC is also unlikely to escape criticism. Three years ago the commission, which administers a £2 billion budget to give poor people access to justice, acknowledged that the attempt to make a case against MMR with taxpayers’ money was “not effective or appropriate”.
The total cost for the attack on the vaccine was £14,053,856, plus Vat.
Following media campaigning, lawyers eventually registered 1,600 claimants in the lawsuit. None received any money.
This weekend Earl Howe, a Conservative party health spokesman, called for a parliamentary inquiry. “It’s astonishing,” he said. “This is crying out for select committee scrutiny.”
Wakefield said in a statement that he had worked on the lawsuit for nine years, charged at a recommended rate, and gave money to charity.
“This work involved nights, weekends and much of my holidays, such that I saw little of my family during this time,” he said. “I believed and still believe in the just cause of the matter under investigation.” ↓
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| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 3rd, 2007 10:16 PM |
| I believe there is a link between the two. I think that immunizations are linked to a lot more than just autism. I wish upon all wishes that I didn't have my son immunized with the MMR. ↑ |
| Name: spankyx0711 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 7:02 AM |
| i personally much rather have my child alive and living with autism then die from measles, mumps or rubella ↑ |
| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 8:58 AM |
| I see Spanky that you must be in my situation to spurt out such teachings the way you do. Thank you soooo much. I know that you sit there and watch your son line his toys up for hours. I know that you witness him smacking himself in the head because you don't understand him and he is unable to talk. I know you must feel all isolation that comes with being a parent of an autistic child. I also know that you've read up on everything and would gladly have your son immunized even if there was a chance that the immunization had something to do with his diagnoses. Spanky Thank you again for your thoughts and ignorance towards the subject. ↑ |
| Name: Lynne n | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:05 AM |
| I agree with spankey andrew had his jab and was and has been fine ever since! ↑ |
| Name: Lynne n | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:13 AM |
| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:22 AM |
| Lynne N Do you have a son with autism? I think not so we will agree to disagree. ↑ |
| Name: Mom2Be2007 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:36 AM |
WOW Help...She was just stating her personal opinion on the subject. Think about it for one second. No one truely wishes that their child is sick but if the only option is to have your child here or to have them six feet under wouldn't you rather have them here. Plus there is no evidenace to prove that immunization are link to certain thing such as autism. Not to say that it's not possible. But sometime GOD just has a different path for some of us and no matter what we did or didn't do would never have made a difference.
I do not know what it's like to have to deal with a child who has autism. But I do know that I would rather have my child here on earth, unless he/she was suffering. ↑ |
| Name: Lynne n | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:37 AM |
Thank you mom2be2007!
I wish that help would crawl back under her stone! ↑ |
| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:38 AM |
| I want my son here on Earth too. I wish I had him vaccinated three separate time's, not with the MMR. ↑ |
| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:39 AM |
| Lynne you are a wicked women. ↑ |
| Name: Mom2Be2007 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:42 AM |
| Do they even offer the MMR seperate? ↑ |
| Name: Help. | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:43 AM |
| You can if you insist. Or pay for it. The MMR is A LOT more cost effective. ↑ |
| Name: Mom2Be2007 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:45 AM |
| Okay so I have already established that your do not get along with Help and Help does not get along with you Lynne. I did not reply with what I had said so that it would start something. I was only trying to clarify what I think Spanky was trying to say. ↑ |
| Name: Mom2Be2007 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 9:45 AM |
| I see....I did not know that. I just assumed that the only option you had was the MMR as a single shot ↑ |
| Name: atomic snowflake | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 2:22 PM |
It has NEVER been proven that MMR causes Autism or anything else for that matter.
People soon forget what Measles can do to a child. Years ago, children died or were left with deafness, brain damage etc. due to this nasty disease.
Nobody knows what causes Autism and they're not likely to either while scientists/doctors are muddying the waters with fake research..........SIMPLY TO MAKE MONEY! ↑ |
| Name: mspeachpit | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 2:40 PM |
| what age do they usually give the mmr? my daughter's already had so many shots, i cant keep up with what she's had. ↑ |
| Name: Jeanie | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 2:45 PM |
| I believe it's somewhere around 1 year to 15 or 16 months old. ↑ |
| Name: mspeachpit | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 2:50 PM |
| yikes. i dont know if they gave it to her at her last visit or if its coming up next month. she'll be 16 months then. ↑ |
| Name: Emma2 | Date: Jan 4th, 2007 6:05 PM |
| i've heard tons of debate about the mmr vaccine and was wondering if any of you decided not to vaccinate. my daughter is only 4 months old, so i have a while to decide. does anyone know of any kids who DIDN'T get the mmr and ended up w/ one of the diseases (measles/mumps/or rubella)? thanks ↑ |
| Name: spankyx0711 | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:00 AM |
| my neighbor refused to let her daughter be vaccinated with mmr. her daughter suffered severe brain damage from her body's fight with the measles and now she's in a wheelchair. ↑ |
| Name: Meagan | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:01 AM |
| Are we talking about measels mumps and rubella? Whats wrong with getting the shot? I'm not reading all that up there! ↑ |
| Name: marija | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:05 AM |
| yep meagan...i prefer to take the risk with the vaccination. mainly because i would never forgive myself for not vaccinating and then ending up in spanky's neighbours position ↑ |
| Name: Meagan | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:07 AM |
| whats wrong with the shot? ↑ |
| Name: spankyx0711 | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:23 AM |
| there's a supposed link between the vaccine and autism and other things. but theres no hard evidence to support the claims ↑ |
| Name: SaRaH | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:24 AM |
| i'm not reading all that ↑ |
| Name: Meagan | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:26 AM |
| Oh ok then.... is it like one of the regular injections? I wouldn't kow what my son has been immunised against! He has had all his needles and doesn't need another one till his 4! (Thank-God!) It's all in his yellow book somewhere....... ↑ |
| Name: spankyx0711 | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:28 AM |
| yes its a regularly administered vaccination. it's given at 12-15 months and again at 4 years ↑ |
| Name: Meagan | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 6:30 AM |
| Oh ok then so my son has had it then.. I wanted my son to be vaccinated against all the things they had! I know he had the chicken pox needle... ↑ |
| Name: alice20 | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 8:05 AM |
| i was always told vaccinations didnt stop you from getting those things it just ment that if you did it wouldnt be as bad. is it true? ↑ |
| Name: Hiddy | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 8:46 AM |
| Name: Hiddy | Date: Jan 5th, 2007 8:46 AM |
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