Autistic enterocolitis hoax

Autistic enterocolitis is a fraudulent condition invented by disgraced British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield to propose a different cause for autism. Wakefield stood to profit heavily from products related to this. Many autistic people do have gastrointestinal issues,Madra M, Ringel R, Margolis KG. Gastrointestinal Issues and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2020 Jul;29(3):501-513. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2020.02.005. Epub 2020 Apr 2. PMID: 32471598; PMCID: PMC8608248. a fact Wakefield used to make his claims appear more credible.
Wakefield proposed the condition in a fraudulent study that claimed to link the MMR vaccine with autism. Wakefield reportedly would have earned up to $43 million USD per year selling diagnostic kits for this fictional syndrome.Stein, Rob. "Wakefield tried to capitalize on autism-vaccine link, report says", 11 January 2011. He also intended to patent and sell his own MMR vaccine.
Despite Wakefield's claims being thoroughly debunked, the myths he spread helped fuel the anti-vaccination movement.
==Background==
Autism has been diagnosed more and more in years since its discovery. The CDC estimates that around 1 in 36 children are autistic.Data & Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention However, it is not yet clear if autism rates are actually increasing or if this is due to better recognition and diagnosis of autistic people. Current scientific evidence shows that autism is mainly genetic with some environmental factors in the womb.This Is How Much of Autism Is Genetic, Time
==Fraudulent paper==
Wakefield recruited 12 families of allegedly autistic children through anti-MMR campaigns. He published a fraudulent paper to The Lancet in February 1998. It include biased data selection, falsified data,Deer, Brian. "MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism", The Sunday Times, 8 February 2009. and two undeclared conflicts of interest.Deer, Brian (2011). How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed. The BMJ 342 (jan05 1): c5347. He then held a press conference and gave interviews to spread his views.Moore Andrew (2006). Bad science in the headlines: Who takes responsibility when science is distorted in the mass media?. EMBO Reports 7 (12): 1193–1196.Goldacre B. "The MMR hoax", The Guardian, 30 August 2008.
Brian Deer exposed the hoax in a detailed Sunday Times investigation.Deer B. "Revealed: MMR research scandal", The Sunday Times, 22 February 2004.Deer, Brian. "MMR doctor Andrew Wakefield fixed data on autism", The Sunday Times, 8 February 2009.2004 BBC documentary: Deer B (2007). The Wakefield Factor.Deer, Brian (2020). The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines, Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. The paper was retracted in 2010 and Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register. Despite evidence of misconduct, Wakefield contended that there was no hoax or profit motive.Gever, J. "Father of vaccine–autism link said to have fudged data", MedPage Today, 11 February 2009.PRNewswire (13 January 2011). Statement From Dr. Andrew Wakefield: No Fraud. No Hoax. No Profit Motive. Press release.Ziv, Stav. "Andrew Wakefield, Father of the Anti-Vaccine Movement, Responds to the Current Measles Outbreak for the First Time", Newsweek, February 10, 2015.
Further investigation showed that 5 of the 12 children already had documented developmental differences before vaccination. Some children were not actually diagnosed with autism. Nine cases had unremarkable colonic histopathology results. (Expert analyses later showed no evidence of enterocolitis.Deer, Brian (2011). Pathology reports solve 'new bowel disease' riddle. The BMJ 343 (nov11): c6823.) Wakefield also changed the timelines of children's behavioral signs of autism to be closer to the days after the MMR vaccine.
==Impact==
Many subsequent studies and experts failed to find any link between MMR, colitis, and autism.Lovering, Nancy. Can Vaccines Cause Autism? Psych CentralOfficial letter But the damage had been done. Some members of the public continued to believe the misinformation, leading to vaccine hesitancy. In the early 2000s, even some doctors had doubts about the MMR vaccine.Halvorsen R (2007). The Truth about Vaccines, Gibson Square.
Outbreaks of measles and mumps rose after the hoax, resulting in deaths and major permanent injuries.(2008). Improving uptake of MMR vaccine. The BMJ 336 (7647): 729–30.Pepys MB (2007). Science and serendipity. Clinical Medicine 7 (6): 562–78.
A 2011 journal article described the proposed vaccine-autism link as "the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years."Flaherty DK (October 2011). The vaccine-autism connection: a public health crisis caused by unethical medical practices and fraudulent science. Annals of Pharmacotherapy 45 (10): 1302–4.
==See also==
*Autism
*Genetic Component in Autism Spectrum Disorder
==References==
Category:Autism
Category:1990s
Category:2000s
Category:Controversies