Bcom 275 - Article Rebuttal

Article Rebuttal

BCOM/275

November 21, 2011

For a while now, people have claimed a direct correlation between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the inception of autism. A clear dividing line exists between those who believe the MMR vaccine causes autism versus those who refuse to believe this claim. On one hand are the parents whose children appeared normal before receiving the vaccine and on the other hand, one finds the drug companies that make the vaccine along with many researchers and doctors who have completed in-depth studies on the MMR vaccine.

A report published in the Lancet in 1998, a British Medical Journal, stated that Dr. Andrew Wakefield had completed a study that proved there was a connection between the early onset of autism and the MMR vaccine in children who were otherwise fine before receiving the vaccine. These finding caused widespread panic among parents both in Great Britain and the United States. By 2004, the rate of unvaccinated children had dropped nearly 20%, while in the United States; cases of the measles had reached an all-time high.

The British Medical Journal recently came upon evidence that has disputed the work of Dr. Wakefield and has labeled his work as fraudulent. An independent source reviewed data used by Dr. Wakefield and found that he had misrepresented data by omitting that some of the children in his study did show some signs of autism before the study began. The doctor had misled others intentionally to confirm his own hypothesis on the connection of the MMR vaccine, autism, and a specific form of bowel disease (Salahi, 2011).

More than three independent studies conducted since the uncovering of the fraud have resulted in discoveries that do not back up the claims of Dr. Wakefield’s original