I’ve written about this in the past.
But here are the undisputed stats:
Deaths from measles in 1941: 1,145
Deaths from measles in 2008: 2
Then we developed a vaccine for measles. This is one of the most significant accomplishments of humankind.
Choose your poison…devolving to an ancient time where 1143 kids die per year in Britain alone due to a completely preventable disease (don’t forget…it might be your kid) or a bogus risk of autism.
“…the study’s author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study.”
what an asshole.
Wow. Man. I just think of all the parents I’ve listened to debate this. The millions of people that have wasted their time and needlessly worried. All because this dude was getting paid $600 grand to help out in a bogus lawsuit agaist vaccine makers. Totally depressing. This was the worst part:
According to BMJ, Wakefield received more than 435,000 pounds ($674,000) from the lawyers. Godlee said the study shows that of the 12 cases Wakefield examined in his paper, five showed developmental problems before receiving the MMR vaccine and three never had autism.