Sunday, July 08, 2007

The Autism-MMR gravy train

There's an interesting link on NHS Blog Doctor's weekly BritMeds medical links post. An article by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, explaining how measles RNA was apparently found in the guts of autistic children who, it is claimed, had contracted autism through the MMR vaccine. An investigation on the lab found that the tests were suspect due to DNA contamination. This investigation was withheld from the public for three years due to litigation in the UK. Lawyers acting on behalf of the children and their parents allowed the case to drag on, even when the scientific case against the autism-MMR link was overwhelming, prolonging the agony of the families and costing the taxpayer £15m in legal aid. Of this £15m, £8m went to solicitors, £1.7million to barristers and £4.3million was shared among expert witnesses. £800,000 went to Unigenetics, a company set up by Professor O'Leary who ran the lab referred to in the report. The families got nothing.

It seems to me that there is no good scientific link between MMR and autism. Those who say there is are preying on parents' need to find answers, and are only in it to make money. For what it's worth, both my little ones have had the MMR, and neither of them have autism.

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