U.K. General Medical Council Rules Wakefield & Co. "Dishonest," "Irresponsible"
2010-01-28 15:25
The Neurodiversity Weblog
Kathleen Seidel
**
-----------------------------------
A ruling has been issued by the British General Medical Council (GMC) on a 2 1/2 year investigation of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, and Professors John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch on allegations of unethical practice and non-adherence to the terms of ethics committee approval for the research related to a 1998 Lancet article which linked the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) to autism and bowel disease. Subsequent to the article's publication, 10 of the 13 original authors of the study retracted their names from the article.
Wakefield was found to have behaved dishonestly and irresponsibly. Walker-Smith and Murch were determined to have shared responsibility for the breaches of ethical conduct of the research, but neither was stated to have acted dishonestly.
The three will return before the panel in April, at which time the GMC will decide whether there was guilt of serious professional misconduct. Should that determination be made, a result could be loss of license to practice medicine.
This investigation has been one of the longest in the GMC's history.
-------------------------------
For more information:
Summary of the background and specific inquiries made by the GMC
Murch, S.H., Anthony, A., Casson, D.H., Malik, M., Berelowitz, M., Dhillon, A.P., Valentine, A., Davies, S.E., & Walker-Smith, J.A. (2004).Retraction of an interpretation. The Lancet, 363(9411), 750.
This article is stated by The Lancet to be available free of charge with registration.
Media reports
From the Lancet to the GMC: how Dr Andrew Wakefield fell from grace
Sarah Boseley, health editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 January 2010 15.37 GMT
MMR scare doctor 'acted unethically', panel finds
last updated at 17:35 GMT, Thursday, 28 January 2010
By Nick Triggle
Health reporter, BBC News
Andrew Wakefield found 'irresponsible' by GMC over MMR vaccine scare
Sarah Boseley, health editor
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 January 2010 20.34 GMT
Doctor in disgrace
January 29, 2010
TimesOnline (UK)
Views and news expressed in this blog or by the PIBA SIG are those of the SIG or SIG members and do not represent official policy of ABA International or other official body. For official policy of the Association of Behavior Analysis International, the reader is directed to their website, http://www.abainternational.org
