Via The Chronicle Herald, Helen Branswell of The Canadian Press writes about the impact of the repudiation of the Wakefield article: Medical journal: Study linking vaccine to autism flawed. Excerpt:
The Lancet’s move, viewed as long overdue by many infectious disease experts, was welcomed as a way of clearing discredited data from the scientific record. But the legacy of the publication remains, several said upon hearing about the journal’s announcement.
"It was out there for a very long time. So it’s good the Lancet has retracted it. It helps in a small way. But the truth of the matter is the damage has been done," Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases expert at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, said in an interview.
"The MMR-autism argument is not about the Wakefield article (anymore). It’s about the accumulation of belief and perception that’s happened since the Wakefield article."
"So . . . will it change the landscape of what’s going on now? Not at all."
Subsequent studies found no proof the vaccine is connected to autism. And 10 of the 13 authors later repudiated the work in a statement published by the Lancet.
Wakefield and the other two authors who did not renounce the study face being stripped of their right to practise medicine in Britain when the General Medical Council hands down its sanction.
