GMC finds Wakefield guilty of abusing position of trust

Wakefield: “Allegations are both unfounded and unjust”

by Elizabeth McBreen

  The General Medical Council (GMC), the medical regulatory panel of Britain had harsh words for Andrew Wakefield, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCPath today. According to the Fitness to Practice Panel Hearing report, the panel found that Wakefield “showed a callous disregard for the distress and pain that you knew or ought to have known the children involved might suffer”. Here the panel refers to Wakefield’s son’s birthday party in 1999 where he took blood samples from several children for research purposes. The panel also ruled that Wakefield abused his position of trust as a physician.
    In 1998, Wakefield and several of his colleagues published a series of case studies in The Lancet, a British medical journal. The case studies found a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) immunization and gastrointestinal problems in autistic children.
    Parents of autistic children and strong believers in Wakefield’s work, many of whom believe the GMC trial to be a political farce, heckled the panel chairman as he read the verdict. Much of the autism community views the trial as a warning to other physicians who might raise the question of vaccine safety. The ruling could lead to Wakefield’s being struck from the medical register. His professional future in his native Britain has yet to be decided.
    After hearing the verdict, Wakefield, who did not attend the final day of the trial, said, “Naturally, I am extremely disappointed by the outcome of today’s proceedings. The allegations against me and my colleagues are both unfounded and unjust.” Wakefield has repeatedly refuted allegations about his research, such as undisclosed conflicts of interest, his findings never having been replicated, and that he manipulated data.
    Wakefield also thanked the parents who have stood behind him during the tumultuous two and a half year trial and promised that the “science will continue in earnest.”