| ■ Doctor Behind Autism-Vaccine Scare Can't Practice in U.K. | 2010.05.28 |
| The doctor who linked autism to childhood vaccines, causing a massive anti-vaccination movement, has been banned from practicing medicine in Great Britain. Britain's General Medical Council announced the ruling Monday, saying it found Dr. Andrew Wakefield guilty of "serious professional misconduct." The council reviewed the methods involved in Wakefield's research, but not the science behind it, the Associated Press reported. Because of Wakefield's research, which was published in 1998, many British parents stopped allowing the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella to be given to their children. Britain subsequently experienced a resurgence of measles. Later studies have found no connection between autism and the vaccines. The ruling doesn't affect Wakefield's right to practice medicine in the United States, where he moved several years ago, the AP said. |