PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release: June 15, 2006

Contact: Rita Shreffler, NAA (Nixa, MO) 417-818-9030 Wendy Fournier, NAA (Portsmouth, RI) 401-632-7523

WAKEFIELD, NEEDLEMAN; PUTTING SOUND SCIENCE ON TRIAL

IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF? UNFOUNDED ‘SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT’ CHARGES AGAINST WAKEFIELD AREN’T A FIRST FOR COMPROMISED SCIENCE

Nixa, MO – It’s difficult not to notice the similarities between now and 30 years ago. A researcher, vigilant in finding answers, becomes the subject of a big-industry no-no: questioning the safety and efficacy of a popular product.

Back in the 70’s, lead-based gasoline and paint were two of those products.  That is until one researcher, Dr. Herbert Needleman, studied the lapse of children’s IQs in direct correlation with lead exposure. In response, the lead industry hired “neutral” scientists to bring Needleman up on charges of ‘scientific misconduct.’ One of these researchers later confessed to being paid by the lead industry. Needleman’s sound research is why we no longer have lead in gasoline and paint.

Is Dr. Andrew Wakefield the subject of a similar witch-hunt three decades later? Wakefield is being investigated by the General Medical Council for scientific misconduct, specifically, carrying out ‘inadequately founded’ research when his findings concluded that vaccine-strain measles were present in children with autism as the result of the MMR vaccine. Wakefield encouraged the use of single-dose vaccines as an alternative to help alleviate this problem. Just last week, preliminary study results were released that replicates Wakefield’s research.

Dr. Stephen Walker, of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, studied children with regressive autism and bowel disease. "Of the handful of results we have in so far, all are vaccine strain," he said of the type of measles present in the intestines of 87% of the autistic children studied.

As it stands:

-          The General Medical Council has not thoroughly reviewed the Wake Forest research.

-          The General Medical Council has not made any formal allegations against Wakefield, despite a two-and-a-half-year investigation.

-          All allegations have been made by a journalist. None have been filed by a patient or parent.The National Autism Association (NAA) fully supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s research. Wendy Fournier, parent and president of NAA, feels proper review of all the findings related to MMR should be the priority of the General Medical Council.

“In understanding that the court of public opinion sits in the driver’s seat, entities such as the General Medical Council discredit sound research in the name of a supposedly well-perceived vaccination program. Yet, this is a compromise. Compromise has no place in science, even science surrounding vaccinations. Dr. Wakefield is one of the few that conducted research in truth, and yet the leaders in medical authority continue to compromise the health of subsets of the population that have negative reactions to shots like the MMR. Are we supposed to view these children as acceptable losses?” asks Fournier. “Dr. Wakefield’s willingness to find answers for these subsets is a testament to his scientific integrity.”

Vaccinations have been the center of highly emotional debate. Unlike gasoline and paint, the majority of scientists are less likely to speak out against the health risks of vaccines in certain children. “We are for safe vaccinations, as is Dr. Wakefield,” says Rita Shreffler of NAA. “Never before have we seen the amount of compromised science than with vaccinations. Instead of embracing the problem and finding a solution, medical authority has regrettably turned a blind eye to its most basic tenet, ‘first, do no harm.’”

For more information about autism, visit www.nationalautism.org.

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