Dr. Wakefield’s journey began with twelve children with autism. Like many of our kids, all twelve of them regressed into autism, and eight of the parents blamed their child’s regression on the MMR vaccine, just as tens of thousands of other parents do.

Having heard the stories of thousands of other parents, we can’t tell you how many times we’ve heard the same exact story about regression after MMR.

Dr. Wakefield, a highly respected gastroenterologist in the UK, was presented with the cases of these twelve children who had all regressed into autism and were all experiencing severe gut pain. He felt it was his duty to investigate the concerns of these parents and figure out what had happened to their children. In this interview with CBS News (please watch it), Dr. Wakefield recounts:

“The conclusion was that there is a bowel disease in children with autism which is new which has not been investigated before, that this may well be related to the developmental regression since they occurred around the same time and that the parental association with MMR exposure needed to be thoroughly investigated.”

Dr. Wakefield’s study, which we hope all journalists will take the time to read, was published in February 1998, twelve years ago. Nowhere in the study does Dr. Wakefield tell parents not to vaccinate their children, despite rampant misreporting on this topic.

It has taken twelve long years for the medical community to catch up with Dr. Wakefield’s findings. Finally, just last month, in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, Pediatrics, a landmark consensus report was published with the finding that:

“Gastrointestinal disorders and associated symptoms are commonly reported in individuals with ASDs [autism].”

Thanks, AAP, we’ve known that for more than a decade thanks to Dr. Wakefield!

This month, a study published in Autism Insights became public and went one step further: it replicated the findings of Dr. Wakefield’s paper from twelve years ago, finding once again that the majority of children with autism studied, in this case 143 children, suffered from severe bowel disease -- read the full study by Dr. Arthur Krigsman et al. HERE.

You will hear that Dr. Wakefield’s other study authors retracted their findings (they didn’t).

You will hear that this ruling somehow implies the MMR is safe for all children (it doesn’t). You will hear that this ruling somehow means that vaccines and autism are unrelated (again, it doesn’t).

What we think the GMC and pharmaceutical companies fail to realize is that every time this debate makes the headlines, parents win. The truth about what is being done to our kids is evident to anyone who takes the time to look just one layer below the headlines. When the debate makes the front page again, our community grows.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is perhaps this debate’s greatest hero. He’s a doctor who has held onto the truth, unbowed, through pressure that would break most mortals. Dr. Wakefield’s influence in saving other children from the fate that befell so many children is incalculable.

While the GMC’s ruling was completely expected, we are all blessed to have the unexpected courage of Dr. Andy Wakefield watching over our children.

With great respect and admiration,

Generation Rescue
January 28, 2010