This is a man that doesn't have all the answers. Guess what? He has more answers than mainstream medicine will admit. We know more about autism because of him and others like him and yet, still, they won't listen. Still, they choose to defame and discredit them by not actually proving anything. Just saying it's not true and telling us vaccines do not cause damage or that there is no evidence is not proof. Name one vaccine that has purposefully been studied to see if there are developmental delays. Go ahead, give it your best shot. I will gladly post them.
If mainstream medicine believes it's all a hoax, how about effectively proving it? It doesn't seem like that is such an odd request. Put your money where your mouth is. A lot of dollars are spent on a smear campaign when those dollars could be spent on proving it if this issue needs to be put to bed. Why don't they do it? Afraid of what they might find, maybe? Afraid of what they'll have to disclose? His studies have been replicated. Where are the studies that say otherwise? Oh wait, they have studies. Like this one.
The original study never made such sweeping claims as the media would like to suggest.
Anyway, here's his statement, pulled from AoA.
January 13, 2011
BREAKING NEWS: Statement From Dr. Andrew Wakefield: No Fraud. No Hoax. No Profit Motive.
"The British Medical Journal and reporter Brian Deer recently alleged that my 1998 research paper was 'a hoax' and 'an elaborate fraud' and that my motivation was profit.
"I want to make one thing crystal clear for the record – my research and the serious medical problems found in those children were not a hoax and there was no fraud whatsoever. Nor did I seek to profit from our findings.
"I stand by the Lancet paper's methodology and the results which call for more research
into whether environmental triggers cause gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in children. In fact, despite media reports to the contrary, the results of my research have been duplicated in five other countries (to see citations to studies, visithttp://tinyurl.com/4hrdt5y.)
"It is not unexpected to see poor reporting and misinformation coming from Brian Deer, the lead reporter of the recent BMJ coverage. But to see coverage in other media that cites Deer's shoddy journalism in the BMJ as a final justification to claim there is no link between vaccines and autism is ludicrous. The MMR is only one vaccine of the eleven vaccinations on the pediatric schedule that has been studied for causing developmental problems such as autism. That is fact, not opinion. Any medical professional, government official or journalist who states that the case is closed on whether vaccines cause autism is jumping to conclusions without the research to back it up.
"I continue to fully support more independent research to determine if environmental triggers, including vaccines, are causing autism and other developmental problems. The current rate of autism is 1 in 110 children in the United States and 1 in 64 children in the U.K. My goal has always been and will remain the health and safety of children. Since the Lancet paper, I have lost my job, my career and my country. To claim that my motivation was profit is patently untrue. I will not be deterred - this issue is far too important."
