Kthebean Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Interesting article in this weekends guardian about the role of the media in the MMR and autism scare http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/30/mmr.health.media It is an extract from ‘Bad Science’ – a regular column and now book by Ben Goldacre. Time and again the media (Guardian included) suppressed contradictory research disproving Wakefield’s theories, inflated Wakefields claims and also relied on the opinions and views of celebrities and politicians rather than statisticians or health experts. It seems to me that Wakefield is now being persecuted in a witch hunt, whereas I would agree with Goldacre that ‘individuals like Wakefield must be free to have bad ideas’. They must then be ridiculed when their research turns out to be founded on dust. How was he allowed to cause such a fuss? And will we ever hold the media to account for the mistakes they made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathman Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I agree with you Kthebean. strangely, Fishcake is saying much the same on another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kthebean Posted September 2, 2008 Author Share Posted September 2, 2008 Oh really? I did a thread search before I started. If you'd be kind enough to link me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffragette1 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I agree and this last para of the article sums it up: It is madness to imagine that one single man can create a 10-year scare story. It is also dangerous to imply - even in passing - that academics should be policed not to speak their minds, no matter how poorly evidenced their claims. Individuals like Wakefield must be free to have bad ideas. The media created the MMR hoax, and they maintained it diligently for 10 years. Their failure to recognise that fact demonstrates that they have learned nothing, and until they do, journalists and editors will continue to perpetrate the very same crimes, repeatedly, with increasingly grave consequences. I have to say, at the time, I was highly dubious about the research study and felt that the media were totally irresponsible in its reporting. As the article says, it makes sense that if there were to be a causal link in the UK then there would be elsewhere, yet there appeared not to be. I happened to know a few people who had worked with Wakefield at the time and they all felt that his research was flawed and apart from anything, there was no control body and his sample was minute. I did agonise over the decision as to whether I should get my children immunised, did as much online research as I could, and went ahead and had them vaccinated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky_Gibbon Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Interesting article in this weekends guardian about the role of the media in the MMR and autism scare http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/30/mmr.health.media It is an extract from ‘Bad Science’ – a regular column and now book by Ben Goldacre. Time and again the media (Guardian included) suppressed contradictory research disproving Wakefield’s theories, inflated Wakefields claims and also relied on the opinions and views of celebrities and politicians rather than statisticians or health experts. It seems to me that Wakefield is now being persecuted in a witch hunt, whereas I would agree with Goldacre that ‘individuals like Wakefield must be free to have bad ideas’. They must then be ridiculed when their research turns out to be founded on dust. How was he allowed to cause such a fuss? And will we ever hold the media to account for the mistakes they made? I might agree with you about Wakefield being persecuted in a witch hunt if it wasn't for the fact that I heard him talking on Radio 4 alongside one of the other scientists who he did the research with. This other scientist, in the face of mounting evidence, had publicly withdrawn his support for the conclusions they'd reached. Wakefield basically spent 10 minutes attacking the man and saying that 'they' had gotten to him and that he'd been bought off. Wakefield came across as a man drunk on the celebrity he'd received and didn't care about all the evidence against his conclusions. As for the media, in an effort to be 'balanced' they gave Wakefield's claim equal weight to the overwhelming evidence against it. That was like giving equal weight to the Flat Earth Society against Nasa. Radio 5 held debates on the subject 4 or 5 times and on each occasion the person who was arguing against MMR was some woman from a group called JABS. She give the same arguments every time (Japan not using MMR for example) and every time her arguments were shredded yet they kept calling her back in... The media didn't care about the damage they were doing, it was just a great story to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouija Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I had my son vaccinated, but I remember being a bit worried about it because of the scare stories I'd heard about the jab. Thankfully, apart from screaming when he got jabbed, my son was fine. Worrying though that some people might not have had the vaccine because of the health concerns. That was what swayed me to let him have the jab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 The media needs to shut up. There is NO proven link between the MMR jab and autism, only some so-called "experts" who got their medical Degree off the back of a packet of Kelloggs' cornflakes and their half baked theories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I had my son vaccinated, but I remember being a bit worried about it because of the scare stories I'd heard about the jab. Thankfully, apart from screaming when he got jabbed, my son was fine. Worrying though that some people might not have had the vaccine because of the health concerns. That was what swayed me to let him have the jab. Which is why Wakefield's lies are more than just lies. There has been a falling off of mmr take up and surprise surprise cases of measles are returning. This hoax may cost lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suffragette1 Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Which is why Wakefield's lies are more than just lies. There has been a falling off of mmr take up and surprise surprise cases of measles are returning. This hoax may cost lives. I agree to a point, however, I have it under good authority from someone who knew him back then, that he did passionately believe that there was a causal link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddie Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I had my children vaccinated, as I had never met anyone who had had a problem with the MMR vaccine, I have however seen two children severely affected with measles, and it was a sight that I never want to see again, in an easily preventable illness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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