Vaccines are questioned worldwide due to an article published in The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield and his coworkers. Andrew Wakefield, once Doctor Andrew Wakefield, was deemed unethical by the medical board after a paper that was published by him and other colleagues (Boseley). Wakefield was confident in his statements that he had not been the one to link the MMR vaccine to autism.
Many people know Wakefield to be unethical in his practices due to a publishing of a study done by him and his colleagues. A panel from the Medical Board stated that his “actions were contrary to the clinical interests” and his actions were “an abuse of his position of trust as a medical practitioner” (“Dr Wakefield’s name should be erased from the medical register”). The panel from the Medical Board states that Mr. Wakefield conducted research that was not approved by the Ethics Committee “with regard to nine of the eleven children” (“Dr Wakefield’s name should be erased from the medical register”). Upon publishing the article in The Lancet, Mr. Wakefield knew he would receive attention from a very public audience and used this to cause questioning by parents about getting vaccines. Wakefield performed unnecessary tests on children in order to research the connection between the vaccine and autism.
Through interviews, Andrew Wakefield confidently responds to question after question about his publication and the public reaction to it. When speaking with Dr. Gupta on CNN, Wakefield, says “I didn’t have a preconceived notion about this at all” when asked whether he chose the children to fit his study (CNN Official Interview: Author of autism study, Andrew Wakefield questioned). In this interview, Wakefield mentions a book that he wrote a book called Callous Disregard where he defends his actions regarding the trial he was facing. He states, “In my opinion, the intended goal – to reinforce the false belief that the work is discredited – has been achieved” (Wakefield 16). In an interview with CBS, Wakefield says that his trial is to make him “an example to other doctors not to get involved in this in the first place” (Controversy Over Vaccine Research). He believes that the Medical Board came after him to discourage other doctors to pursue research such as the study he published.
People around the world question vaccines and how safe they are due to the published unethical study by Wakefield and his colleagues. SARS-CoV-2, better known as COVID-19, was announced with a rapid follow up for a vaccine and the public immediately questioned the efficacy of it as well as how safe it is. Andrew Wakefield’s confidence opened this door with the help of the media. The Lancet publishing will forever be a part of our history.
