In 1998, the highly respected British medical journal The Lancet published a paper by the now-infamous Dr. Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield claimed to have found link between vaccinations and autism.
The paper was soon discredited, and the Lancet officially retracted the article. Investigation revealed that the paper’s author had been funded by a group of unethical British trial lawyers. The lawyers had unable to legitimately find the evidence they needed to sue pharmaceutical companies, so they had to resort to illegitimate means.
Nevertheless, the belief that vaccines cause autism has persisted in the public mind. Last week, a special federal court ruled that there is no creditable link between either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal, and autism. Even the defense attorney, who was trying to prove that vaccines cause autism, admitted that "It wasn't even a close case."
If the scientific evidence was not enough to convince vaccine conspiracy theorists, then a court ruling surely will not put a dent in their beliefs. Unfortunately, autism tends to become apparent at about the same age that most children receive vaccinations. Read more
