After a hearing lasting two and a half years, the General Medical Council has decided that Andrew Wakefield acted unethically in his study which proposed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. It’s now twelve years since his paper was published. During all of that time there has never been more of a tiny… Continue reading Andrew Wakefield
Tag: bad science
The “Controversy” That Won’t Die
The controversy over the MMR vaccine should be dead. I mean, really, no-one who reads around the subject can be in any doubt that Wakefield’s study was flawed and he massively overstated his findings. However the British press got hold of the story and now refuses to let go. A good example is Jeni Barnett’s… Continue reading The “Controversy” That Won’t Die
The Media on MMR
This makes me very angry. Yesterday the NHS Information Centre released data showing that take-up of the MMR vaccination was lower than it should be. The national level has stalled at 85%, whereas it really needs to be at 95% in order to achieve “herd immunity” – an unflattering term which simply means that immunity… Continue reading The Media on MMR
Nadine Dorries is Confused Again
You have to feel sorry for the electorate in Mid Bedfordshire. When they elected Nadine Dorries in 2005, I’m sure they couldn’t have know what a huge mistake they had made. You might recall how she accused Ben Goldacre of publishing parliamentary secrets. When Goldacre pointed out that the facts he had published were in… Continue reading Nadine Dorries is Confused Again
Geeks Pulling Together
A heart-warming tale from Ben Goldacre, author of the Guardian‘s Bad Science column (and also a forthcoming book on the same subject). It seems that his web site had rather outgrown the limits placed on it by his current hosting plan and his hosting providers didn’t like that. At one point they pulled the plug… Continue reading Geeks Pulling Together