Clinical Updates in Neuropsychiatry

LANCET RETRACTS CONTROVERSIAL STUDY LINKING AUTISM TO VACCINES The 1998 Lancet study by Dr. Andrew J. Wakefield and colleagues suggesting a causal relationship between the measles,.mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism, was formally retracted this month. The Editors of Lancet wrote: "Following the judgment of the UK General Medical Council's Fitness to Practise Panel on Jan 28, 2010, it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation. In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were 'consecutively referred' and that investigations were 'approved' by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false." The original study sample included 12 children, 3-10 years of age, with previously normal development presenting with a mixture of gastrointestinal symptoms, behavioral disorders (including autism), and at least one case of vaccinal encephalitis. The parents of 8 out of 12 of the pediatric subjects claimed that the children's behavior changed after receiving the MMR vaccine. The authors stated that no causal association was found between MMR and autism. That anecdote, however, quickly received popular attention, and many concerned parents refused MMR for their children, although numerous follow-up studies could not replicate the supposed link. Within six years, MMR vaccination rates in the United Kingdom dropped from >90% to <80%. Reports emerged that Wakefield had received funding from a British legal board to conduct another study investigating whether parents had legal standing to sue vaccine manufacturers. Concerned by the specter of a growing public health crisis, 10 of the study's original 13 authors retracted the interpretation section of the study in 2004. For more information about this retraction, please visit: www.lancet.com. —Lonnie Stoltzfoos