The MMR-autism study was fraudulent, with recruited patients and fabricated diagnoses.

Evidence

Specifically, the paper concluded that ‘we have identified a chronic enterocolitis in children that may be related to neuropsychiatric dysfunction. In most cases, onset of symptoms was after measles, mumps, and rubella immunisation.’ In other words, after receiving the MMR vaccine, children supposedly experienced gastrointestinal inflammation and this was somehow related to the onset of autism. However, what Wakefield failed to disclose was that the patients had been recruited by a compensation lawyer as part of an effort to file lawsuits against MMR manufacturers. Wakefield received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation for his work (all undisclosed). Moreover, some of the children in the study did not actually have an autism diagnosis and despite claims that the children were neurotypical, almost half had pre-existing developmental issues. As a gastroenterologist, Wakefield specifically focused on a gut link in his paper, coining a new condition called ‘autistic enterocolitis.’ His idea was that the vaccine somehow damaged the intestinal lining, which supposedly caused the colitis, which in turn impacted brain development. Yet eleven out of the twelve children had normal colonoscopy results which were later changed to ‘non-specific colitis’, or general inflammation of the colon, by the authors themselves to justify a link between bowel inflammation, the MMR vaccine, and autism. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 257

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: The fabricated evidence and retraction timeline pattern generalizes to my other misinformation entries on manufactured claims.
• XREF: connects to: Wakefield’s fraudulent Lancet paper linked MMR vaccine to autism — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 256; The debunked MMR-autism paper laid the foundation for the anti-Covid vaccine movement. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 641

Broader Connections

• The debunked MMR-autism paper laid the foundation for the anti-Covid vaccine movement. #expands (0.85) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 641