john[_5_]
February 21st 10, 10:47 PM
http://www.ageofautism.com/2010/02/wakefield-moving-into-new-leadership-role-in-autism-community-leaving-thoughtful-house.html
Wakefield Moving into New Leadership Role in Autism Community, Leaving
Thoughtful House.
By Dan Olmsted
Dr. Andrew Wakefield announced today his intention to move on to a new phase
of leadership in the autism community as he also prepares a more aggressive
defense of his scientific accomplishments in the wake of a ruling from the
U.K.'s General Medical Council (GMC). That ruling, which charged Wakefield
and two pediatric gastroenterologists with misconduct, was followed shortly
by the retraction of a 1998 case series report by Wakefield and his
colleagues from London's Royal Free Hospital in The Lancet. "There has been
an extraordinary outpouring of support from the autism community in response
to the events of the last two weeks", Wakefield told Age of Autism in an
exclusive interview. "The most exciting part of it has been the opening up
of an entirely new sort of opportunity that will allow me to continue my
work on behalf of autism families." Wakefield said he would provide more
specifics on the nature of that opportunity soon. "In addition, I will now
speak publicly to refute the findings that have been made against me. I know
my necessary silence on these issues has troubled many parents in both the
U.K. and the U.S. But I'm ready now to get back on the front foot and
publicly contest the false accusations that have been made against me, my
colleagues, and indirectly The Lancet children. It's been long overdue."
Wakefield, previously the Executive Director of Thoughtful House, had been a
senior scientist in charge of an ambitious primate research program on
vaccine safety. The first paper from this project was published online on
October 2, 2009 by Neurotoxicology (see HERE) who then decided unexpectedly
on February 12 not to proceed with publication in the print edition (like
The Lancet, the journal Neurotoxicology is owned by Elsevier, a division of
Reed Elsevier PLC). Many autism advocates have expressed the concern that
the attack on Wakefield has been part of a broader campaign for the
suppression of science, including the primate project (see HERE). Earlier
this week, Jane Johnson of Thoughtful House released the following
statement. "We fully support [Dr. Wakefield's] decision to leave Thoughtful
House in order to make sure that the controversy surrounding the recent
findings of the General Medical Council does not interfere with the
important work that our dedicated team of clinicians and researchers is
doing on behalf of children with autism and their families."
Wakefield expressed optimism that by working with the support of a larger
set of autism organizations he would be able to focus attention back on the
exploding population of affected children and their families, "which is
where it belongs", he emphasized. "I have always followed the principle that
good medicine, and ultimately good science, begins and ends with the
patient. We need to remember that the purpose of medical science is not to
serve the medical industry but rather the interests of the patients the
industry serves."
Wakefield Moving into New Leadership Role in Autism Community, Leaving
Thoughtful House.
By Dan Olmsted
Dr. Andrew Wakefield announced today his intention to move on to a new phase
of leadership in the autism community as he also prepares a more aggressive
defense of his scientific accomplishments in the wake of a ruling from the
U.K.'s General Medical Council (GMC). That ruling, which charged Wakefield
and two pediatric gastroenterologists with misconduct, was followed shortly
by the retraction of a 1998 case series report by Wakefield and his
colleagues from London's Royal Free Hospital in The Lancet. "There has been
an extraordinary outpouring of support from the autism community in response
to the events of the last two weeks", Wakefield told Age of Autism in an
exclusive interview. "The most exciting part of it has been the opening up
of an entirely new sort of opportunity that will allow me to continue my
work on behalf of autism families." Wakefield said he would provide more
specifics on the nature of that opportunity soon. "In addition, I will now
speak publicly to refute the findings that have been made against me. I know
my necessary silence on these issues has troubled many parents in both the
U.K. and the U.S. But I'm ready now to get back on the front foot and
publicly contest the false accusations that have been made against me, my
colleagues, and indirectly The Lancet children. It's been long overdue."
Wakefield, previously the Executive Director of Thoughtful House, had been a
senior scientist in charge of an ambitious primate research program on
vaccine safety. The first paper from this project was published online on
October 2, 2009 by Neurotoxicology (see HERE) who then decided unexpectedly
on February 12 not to proceed with publication in the print edition (like
The Lancet, the journal Neurotoxicology is owned by Elsevier, a division of
Reed Elsevier PLC). Many autism advocates have expressed the concern that
the attack on Wakefield has been part of a broader campaign for the
suppression of science, including the primate project (see HERE). Earlier
this week, Jane Johnson of Thoughtful House released the following
statement. "We fully support [Dr. Wakefield's] decision to leave Thoughtful
House in order to make sure that the controversy surrounding the recent
findings of the General Medical Council does not interfere with the
important work that our dedicated team of clinicians and researchers is
doing on behalf of children with autism and their families."
Wakefield expressed optimism that by working with the support of a larger
set of autism organizations he would be able to focus attention back on the
exploding population of affected children and their families, "which is
where it belongs", he emphasized. "I have always followed the principle that
good medicine, and ultimately good science, begins and ends with the
patient. We need to remember that the purpose of medical science is not to
serve the medical industry but rather the interests of the patients the
industry serves."