Posted - 06/29/2006 :  23:28:42 http://www.jabs.org.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=207

Wakefield was not paid to investigate damage---John Stone


I return to this point because the false claim keeps on being made, although in fact it was never actually made by Brian Deer or Richard Horton in the first place. In his original Sunday Times story Deer wrote:

"The investigation has found that when he (Wakefield) warned parents to avoid MMR, and published research claiming a link with autism, he did not disclose he was being funded through solicitors seeking evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers..."

and:

"The Sunday Times has now established that four, probably five, of these children were covered by the legal aid study. And Wakefield himself had been awarded up to £55,000 to assist their case by finding scientific evidence of the link..."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,10009-1012410_1,00.html

I am sure most people at the time read this to say that Andrew Wakefield was paid this money to undertake the investigation. This is what the BBC were still saying two days ago:

"Dr Wakefield was being paid to see if there was any evidence to support possible legal action by a group of parents who claimed their children were damaged by the vaccine. Some children were involved in both studies."

and the Daily Telegraph two weeks ago:


"It was discovered in 2004 that at the time that he was preparing the Lancet paper, Dr Wakefield, 50, was being paid to look for evidence that could be used by parents who believed their children had been damaged by the MMR vaccine in order that they could take legal action."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/13/nmmr13.xml

These statements, however, go significantly further than Deer, who does not actually state that money was being paid to Wakefield personally. In fact, Wakefield, in response to the Sunday Times allegations, stated in the Lancet (5 March 2004):

"The grant of £55,000 was paid not to me but the Royal Free Hospital Special Trustees for my research group to conduct studies on behalf of the legal aid board. These funds were properly administered through the Royal Free Hospital Special Trustees".

http://www.i-c-m.org.uk/Journal/2004/mar/005.htm

Now, this actually ought to have set this matter straight more than two years ago. This statement was never contradicted by Deer, the editor of the Lancet Richard Horton, or the Royal Free Special Trustees. Indeed, Wakefield could scarcely have made such a claim if it was deniable by the Royal Free Special Trustees.

After I remonstrated with BBC on Tuesday they actually changed the NewsOnLine story to read:

"It (the Lancet) said Dr Wakefield was being paid to see if there was any evidence to support possible legal action by a group of parents who claimed their children were damaged by the vaccine. Some children were involved in both studies.

"Dr Wakefield denies receiving any direct payment, and said funds were given instead to the hospital at which he worked, London's Royal Free."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5118166.stm

In fact, Richard Horton's statement (Lancet 5 March 2004) did not state that Wakefield "was being paid" but that "he received £55,000 from the legal aid board to conduct this pilot project".

So, in fact, the changed BBC report is still wrong. The Lancet did not claim that Wakefield was paid the money, and it is wrong either to suggest that he was paid money, or that there is any documentary ambiguity about the matter. When I pointed this out to the BBC the story was removed to the archive but it was not further corrected.

The BBC really need to answer this, because it looks as if they have been duped and are afraid to admit it.