Friday 29 January 2010

The dishonesty and suffering as a result of the MMR Scandal

I fully understand how upsetting it must be for parents to see their children 'change', and how they could attribute these changest to the MMR jab. I also understand how they could latch onto and believe the findings of Andrew Wakefield.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7094081/Andrew--Wakefield-was-dishonest-and-irresponsible-in-MMR-research.html

However, as a parent of a 10 year old, I experienced first hand the hysteria which resulted from his deeply flawed investigations. Despite having a dear friend who has a child of an identical age, who, as a pharmacist had all the research available about the MMR, I still didn't sleep the night before my son had the MMR. I investigated the possibility of single jabs, but discovered from my friend that one of the vaccines was not pure and therefore not available in the UK for health reasons. Some of my friends believed all of the hype and 'research' on the internet; paid to go to an unregistered "doctor"- without investigating him, for single jabs, and found their child had to have the MMR at a later date due to the poor vaccine.
Parents also put their children's health at risk by refusing to have the MMR vaccination. This was all due to Andrew Wakefield and the parents he was representing. Their motivation was to sue the Government for their children's 'illness' - i.e. autism, and they needed to have proof that the MMR caused this. There is NO evidence that there is any connection, but there is evidence that their VERY vocal voice and the unprofessional behaviour of Andrew Wakefield has led to many children's health being risked.

I am very pleased that he is being struck off. What a scandal.

1 comment:

Liz Ditz said...

Thank you for sharing your story.

I sometimes write a post that collates blog responses, both positive and negative, to a given issue.

I'm keeping one now on responses to the GMC's ruling on Andrew Wakefield's conduct.

I've added your blog to the list.

The post is at

http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2010/01/andrew-wakefield-dishonesty-misleading-conduct-and-serious-professional-misconduct.html