New reports from the UK indicate that Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who criticized the safety of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and claimed to have found a link between the vaccine and autism, falsified his data to make it appear to fit his conclusion.
Despite involving just a dozen children, the 1998 paper’s impact was extraordinary. After its publication, rates of inoculation fell from 92% to below 80%. Populations acquire “herd immunity” from measles when more than 95% of people have been vaccinated.
Last week official figures showed that 1,348 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales were reported last year, compared with 56 in 1998. Two children have died of the disease.
Now let me see, what was that oath? Something about hypocrites? No, wait, Hippocrates, that's it. "First, do no harm."