The [British] Sunday Times reports:
THE doctor who sparked the scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children changed and misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link with autism, a Sunday Times investigation has found.
If true, the research paper should be clearly refuted, and, I would hope, the doctors scientists involved sued into oblivion for gross malpractice.
This MMR-scare has caused a dangerous rejection of vaccination against measles and has unfortunately bled over into other areas. The whole point of immunization is that it’s not optional. It’s not about protecting just your child, It’s about protecting everyone’s children, by isolating and killing epidemics before they start.
I’ve gone on the record with some very harsh words for parents who fail to immunize their children: you’re committing abuse and endangerment against your children and mine.
There is no open question on the link to autism — it hasn’t been shown, despite numerous careful studies, and almost certainly doesn’t exist. So if you still don’t trust a particular vaccine, get a second opinion, or a different vaccine (mercury-free vaccines are the norm nowadays). Do not bury your head in the sand or listen to idiot celebrities like Jenny McCarthy who have zero scientific understanding.
What amazes me most is that the same idiots who continue to credit and cite quackery and fraud will also mistrust solid scientific consensus, as with global warming. While one scientist can get away with posting fraudulent research until he’s ultimately found out, it is essentially impossible for thousands of scientists around the world to come to virtually the same conclusion and for it to be anything other than the best take on reality that we can produce with modern technology and understanding.
If I were to propose a new study, it would be on the link between parental willful ignorance and developmental retardation in their children. The best thing you can do for your children, IMO, is to teach them how to think and validate their ideas in the real world.
Of course they are going to say that autism is not caused by the mmr shot. Can you imagine the lawsuit they would have on their hands. They will just blindly go on injecting our kids and keeping their fingers crossed that they do not get their asses sued.
James, way to demonstrate my point. By your reasoning, it’s clear that milk causes children’s heads to explode. And can you imagine the lawsuit they would have on their hands if they admitted it now, after all these years?
Turns out, you can use this sort of argument to explain just about any lack of imagined behavior you want. It also turns out that the only thing that matters is whether there is any demonstrable link between MMR vaccines and autism. None. Zero. It’s your personal delusion.
It’s been studied, will continue to be studied, and if qualified peer-reviewed research ever shows a link, then something will be done about it.