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ABC World News reported that many parents "know that vaccines protection their children from serious illness. But many still fear that the vaccines might cause autism because of all of the reports through the years." Now, there is "new outrage over the doctor who first reported a link."

USA Today reports, "An infamous 1998 study that ignited a worldwide scare over vaccines and autism -- and led millions of parents to delay or decline potentially lifesaving shots for their children -- was 'an elaborate fraud,' according to a scathing three-part investigation in the British medical journal BMJ." In 2009, "British medical authorities...found the study's lead author, Andrew Wakefield, guilty of serious professional misconduct, stripping him of his ability to practice medicine in England." The BMJ now "reports that Wakefield, who was paid more than $675,000 by a lawyer hoping to sue vaccine makers, was not just unethical -- he falsified data in the study, which suggested that children developed autism after getting a shot against measles, mumps and rubella."

"The analysis, by British journalist Brian Deer, found that despite the claim in Wakefield's paper that the 12 children studied were normal until they had the MMR shot, five had previously documented developmental problems," the AP reports. "Deer also found that all the cases were somehow misrepresented when he compared data from medical records and the children's parents."

The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reported that "none of the details of the medical histories of any of the patients could be matched to those cited in The Lancet article." What's more, "all had been altered to make Wakefield's claims more convincing. Ten of the authors subsequently asked that the paper be retracted." In 2009, The Lancet withdrew Wakefield's 1998 paper.

Record number of outbreaks reported. CNN points out that Wakefield's "now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella." In the US alone, "more cases of measles were reported in 2008 than in any other year since 1997, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 90% of those infected had not been vaccinated or their vaccination status was unknown, the CDC reported."

HealthDay reported that "besides harming those children who got sick after not receiving a vaccine, the alleged fraud may have even set back autism research, experts noted." Pediatric neurologist Max Wiznitzer, MD, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center, stated that "[autism] research monies were diverted to disprove a hypothesis that was never proven [in the first place], rather than invested in exploring issues that would be of benefit to the public and to children with the condition."

From the American Association for Justice news release.