AGE OF AUTISM

Eye Witness Report from the UK GMC Wakefield, Walker-Smith, Murch Hearing

By Martin Walker

The expression often used by Mr. Herbert Spencer
of the Survival of the Most Corrupt
is more accurate, and is sometimes
equally convenient.

With apologies to Darwin and Mr Herbert Spencer

And so it came to be that Dr Kumar, the Chairman of the GMC Fitness to Practice Panel trying Dr Andrew Wakefield, Professor Simon Murch and Professor Walker-Smith sat without the flicker of a smile on his face, leaning on the long plastic topped table and read out the verdicts to the many charges. The Panel found that; most of the children in the Lancet paper had been experimented upon outside the inclusion dates of research ethical committee approval 172/96. That a number of the children had been subjected to aggressive procedures not sanctioned by any research ethics committee. That in most cases parental approval had not been lodged in the case files and that Dr Wakefield had "treated children with a 'callous disregard' for the distress and pain that he knew or ought to have known the children involved might suffer. This latter aside, although repeated by the media incessantly throughout Thursday night, actually referred to the taking of a small quantity of blood by a trained professional from 5 healthy children, whose parents were friends of the Wakefield's; a control sample for a study. This had nothing to do with the experimental procedures that were supposedly carried out by Dr Wakefield on the 12 children reviewed in the Lancet paper.

As the recitation of the crimes of Dr Wakefield came to an end, it appeared as if Dr Wakefield, had in the mid nineties, been some kind of inhuman Nazi experimenter practicing on children in the heart of England; an overlooked human vivisector who stalked a large North London hospital committing serious crimes with the two other criminals in his firm, invisible to his colleagues and unseen by the hospital administration.

Kumar didn't have an easy read of the verdict. Feelings ran high. The GMC were unable to keep order. Muttering began as Kumar's message became clear while he dodged through the verdict; the microphones working with loud clarity for the first time in two and a half years. Suddenly one parent exploded in a clutter of bags and clothing, a scarf and a jacket, she stood up, twisted round a blur of mustard, shouting as she made her way out of the hearing room. She evaded the GMC security as they tried to manhandling her. After a short quiet with Kumar continuing, another parent, dressed attractively in purples, fury on her face, raged against him, repeating  'the children' over and again. GMC security did catch up with this diminutive parent and held her bruisingly in the lift on the way to expelling her from the premises.

The public gallery began to empty. Then after another five minutes of Kumar's sucrose voice, a freewheeling free-for-all pushed its way to the door. It was headed by a straighter than straight parent, one who usually appeared unable to be aggressive, he remonstrated with the Hearing, like a radical haranguing a rabble, every word in place, beautifully composed. He informed the panel that they were the only ones who had behaved unethically, not the doctors who had tried to care for their children.

Outside again, the parents drew together and began chanting their message or catching up with reporters, trying to squeeze the last juice from the media. Jim Moody, Dr Wakefield's friend and a lawyer a frequent visitor from the US during the hearing had that day delivered to the GMC an indictment of the prosecution's central witnesses in the hearing. I thought as I listened to him, he was far too articulate for a media able only to understand cacophony. Nevertheless they pretended to listen intently, pointing 57 varieties of recording technology in his direction. That night I could find not even rubble of his speech in the broadcast media.

Attorney Jim Moody Describes False Testimony at GMC Hearing: Video Here

Vaccines: Doctor Judges & Juries Hanging Their Own

By Barbara Loe Fisher
 
I remember the day I met Dr. Andrew Wakefield. It was September 12, 1997 and he had just flown into Dulles Airport from London the night before to speak at the First International Public Conference on Vaccination sponsored by the National Vaccine Information Center. The title of his talk was “Measles Virus & Measles Vaccine: Lessons to be Learned.”
 
It was five months before he and 12 other physician colleagues would publish a study in The Lancet calling for more research into a possible association between inflammatory bowel disease, MMR vaccine and developmental delays in some children.
 
I met Dr. Wakefield that day in 1997 in the auditorium where our conference was to take place as he was trying to decide what to do with a slide that identified him as being employed by the Royal Free Hospital. You see, he had received a telephone threat from London in the middle of the night warning him that if he spoke at our conference, he might not have a job when he returned to Britain. He then described to me the intense pressure he had been under from senior health officials in Britain to withdraw from our conference.

This was five months before he and his colleagues published the first article in the medical literature suggesting there might be an association between vaccine induced chronic inflammation in the body and developmental delays in some children.
 
In September 1997, Andrew Wakefield was a young British gastroenterologist, a rising star in the world of experimental medicine. He had received awards and scholarships for original research into the pathogenesis and etiology of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease.....Click here HERE to watch a video and read the full commentary as well as read a Statement by NVIC about Andrew Wakefield and his research.

Barbara Loe Fisher is founder of The National Vaccine Information Center.

National Autism Association Supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield

Parents of Children with Autism Call Decision in Wakefield Trial a Threat to Medical Integrity

GMC Findings Uphold Status Quo, Discourage Physicians from Listening to Parents’ Concerns

Nixa, MO – Parents of children with autism around the world are calling the findings against Dr. Andrew Wakefield in the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) unjust and a threat to researchers investigating autism as a medical condition.  The verdict comes less than a month after an article in the journal Pediatrics1 urged further study of a link between gastrointestinal disturbances and autism originally pointed out by Dr. Wakefield in 1998.

The GMC hearings have been labeled a smear campaign from the beginning by thousands of parents in the autism community who hold Dr. Wakefield in high regard for his pioneering work to understand autism’s medical underpinnings. Many parents of children with autism view the GMC investigation as little more than character assassination of a physician brave enough to investigate controversial issues, and fear that relevant science will never advance if researchers are forced to put their careers in jeopardy by following the scientific truth wherever it leads.

Additional confirmation of Dr. Wakefield’s early findings was published yesterday by a research team led by Arthur Krigsman, MD in the journal Autism Insights.2   The researchers found a significant association between ileo and/or colonic inflammation and the onset of developmental disorder, which further supports autism as a medical versus a behavioral condition as parents have been reporting for years to the medical community.

“Dr Wakefield was one of the first physicians to take the concerns of parents seriously and investigate the medical conditions they noted in their children,” commented NAA Board Chair Lori McIlwain.  “The real danger comes from those unwilling to ask questions, seek answers and challenge comfortable science for the sake of propelling medicine to a higher level of safety. Here’s a doctor who asks the questions others are too afraid to ask, even though it’s their obligation to ask them on behalf of our children. Bravo to Dr. Andrew Wakefield.”

For more information on autism, visit www.nationalautismassociation.org

Age of Autism Comment of the Week: 1/30

Jack is our commenter of the week for:

How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
-Bob Dylan, Hurricane
 
on the post, Sad Day for our Children.

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Naked Intimidation: The Wakefield Inquisition is Only the Tip of the Autism Censorship Iceberg

  “That’s baseless conspiracy-mongering”, some might counter, contending that any anecdote I might dig up is simply the normal process of scientific quality control. “Welcome to the real world”, I respond, because this is something entirely new and disturbing. The deep and profound censorship occurring around autism science reaches depths that few casual observers can imagine.

I have proof.

By Mark F. Blaxill

There are no words to describe the findings of the General Medical Council (GMC). All I can say is that none of us should be surprised. The stakes had escalated far too high for the British medical establishment to countenance any other outcome. In the face of this parody of real justice, the only thing for the autism community to do now is stand by Andy Wakefield. Like him, we must not be intimidated; which is why I am proud to call Andy my friend. He is all of our friend.

We must also not forget two other fine men, John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch, men who have devoted their professional lives to healing the guts of sick children, and whose public reputations stand in tatters before the world, assaulted by the public health propaganda machine, victims of a modern day show trial. The GMC proceeding is a frightening and thoroughly modern form of tyranny. It makes you shudder to think what Stalin or McCarthy might have accomplished if their public relations had been more skillful and better organized.

The extremity of the GMC’s verdict--all three men guilty on all counts—lays bare any pretense that the British medical establishment cares one whit about the welfare of its patients. Let’s put in perspective the actions at issue here. No children were harmed and no parent or guardian has complained about the care these three men provided. In fact, the procedures involved were routine, the resulting treatments standard and the careful attention to gastrointestinal illness in autistic children has recently been endorsed by a consensus statement published in the journal Pediatrics (no friend of the autism community). Considered in this light, the GMC hearing process stands exposed for what it is. It was not about medical standards. It was not about evidence. It was not even civilized.  It was, rather, a naked exercise in intimidation, a fateful moment of moral decision in which the medical industrial complex exposed its ruthless, repressive essence. They are a frightening bunch and their conduct here raises issues well beyond autism.

There are others who can and will speak to the particulars of the case: the accusations, the evidence, and the integrity of the witnesses for the prosecution (see HERE and  HERE ). But it’s important to remember that this trial has never really been about the three doctors. If it were, it would never have consumed so many millions of dollars and thousands of hours over more than two years. The real goal of this proceeding, what I have called The Wakefield Inquisition (see HERE ) is to send a clear message to anyone--clinician or scientist--who dares step out of line like Wakefield did. And as parents and citizens, we all need to understand one thing: that message has been received loud and clear.

Thoughtful House Responds to General Medical Council Findings

Jan 28th, 2010

Thoughtful House is naturally disappointed by today’s report from the UK General Medical Council.

A careful examination of the full record of the Council’s inquiry will show that the charges made against Drs. Wakefield, Murch, and Walker-Smith are unfounded and unfair. We invite anyone to review the record, and to draw their own conclusions.

The work of Thoughtful House on behalf of children with developmental disorders and their families goes on. We are dedicated to the recovery of these children.

Our focus continues to be to provide the best possible treatment for these children, and to conduct medical research in order to ensure continuing improvements in the quality of treatment available.

Thoughtful House supports a safety-first vaccination policy and upholds the right of parents to choose what’s best for their children. We urge parents who have concerns about vaccinating their children to consult with knowledgeable medical professionals.

More information about us, and the work we do, can be found at Thoughtful House.

FAQ: Thoughtful House and the MMR Vaccine

SafeMinds Supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield

GMC Rules Against Wakefield et al, Yet Medical Establishmen Agrees  Further Study of GI Disease in Children with Autism Is Top Priority

Thursday, January 27, 2010 - Today the General Medical Council (GMC), the regulatory body for doctors in the UK, made findings of fact in connection to a complaint filed by journalist Brian Deer. The complaint alleged conflicts of interest and unethical research against Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Dr. John Walker-Smith and Dr. Simon Murch relating to their 1998 case series published in the Lancet.  As a result of these findings, the GMC will now determine the severity and appropriate sanctions, which could go so far as the loss of their licenses to practice medicine. 

SafeMinds is very disappointed by the GMC’s findings  The false testimony and the ensuing GMC FTP hearing have had the effect of delaying necessary research into cause and treatment for autism, and dissuading scientists from pursuing research relating to vaccines as a cause of chronic disease.

In the Lancet paper Wakefield et al reported a novel inflammatory bowel disease in 12 children with developmental regression (autism) and expressly stated that “We did not prove an association between measles mumps and rubella vaccine and the syndrome described.” The conclusion drawn by the case series was that, “Further investigations are needed to examine this syndrome and its possible relation to the vaccine.”  The study’s conclusion and call for additional research is often incorrectly misinterpreted as a call to discontinue immunization against measles, mumps and rubella. 

Generation Rescue Supports Dr. Andrew Wakefield

A Statement from Generation Rescue in Support of Dr. Andrew Wakefield

Do you think pharmaceutical companies have too much influence in the laws, policies, and regulations of our government? We do.

Do you think pharmaceutical companies do things that most Americans would view as unethical to protect their profits? We do.

In a court case in Australia involving the use of the drug Vioxx, it was proven that Merck (the manufacturer of Vioxx) “made a hit list of doctors who had to be "neutralised" or discredited because they criticised the anti-arthritis drug the pharmaceutical giant produced."

In fact, a Merck employee wrote in an email concerning these doctors: "We may need to seek them out and destroy them where they live."

This isn’t the stuff of conspiracy theories, this isn’t the stuff of cynics or crazy parents, this is court-documented behavior of Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world who happens to also be the manufacturer of one of the world’s most profitable vaccines, the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella).

The recent decision by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom against Andy Wakefield shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands the stakes, profits, and reputations at risk in the debate over vaccines and autism.

The sole purpose of the GMC’s ruling this week is to try and quell the growing concern of parents that the expanding vaccine schedule and the remarkable rise in autism are correlated. The GMC will no doubt be helped by a press that barely understands the debate and has never read any of the dozens of studies published by Dr. Wakefield in many different respected medical journals.

A Sad Day for the Future of Children

The General Medical Council’s (GMC) verdict today concerning Dr. Andrew Wakefield brings together autism organizations across the United States who stand united in support of him, unequivocally renounce the GMC’s findings, and demand an investigation into possible conflicts of interests at the GMC.  We further challenge the U.K. and U.S. governments to offer grants for gold standard research into why so many children with autism have gastrointestinal pathology, as well as any links between this pathology and the symptoms of autism, before all of the children of the world are affected.

Today's verdict by the General Medical Council epitomized their negligence in respecting all of the sound scientific studies worldwide replicating the findings of Dr. Andrew Wakefield.  In the United States we will continue to fund studies replicating Wakefield’s work. We will focus more heavily on helping to educate the British public about the dangers of the MMR. We will look with renewed vigor into possible misconduct by the GMC. And, most importantly, we will continue to recover children from autism thanks, in large measure, to Dr. Wakefield’s pioneering work.  We have witnessed and applaud the sustained courage and dignity of Dr. Andrew Wakefield.  He has stood by the children, and we will stand by him.

Autism One
Autism Research Institute
Generation Rescue
National Autism Association
SafeMinds
Schafer Autism Report
Talk About Curing Autism
Unlocking Autism

Members of the Autism Collaboration