MMR row doctor: "I was just doing my duty"

Monday 31st March 2008

A doctor who sparked controversy over the MMR vaccine has insisted it was his duty as a human being to help a mother find out why her child had autism.

Dr Andrew Wakefield said he had "absolutely not" been in breach of his position in helping the woman.

The General Medical Council is hearing serious professional misconduct allegations in relation to his research on MMR, bowel disease and autism.

He and colleagues published a paper in 1998 which suggested a link and led to a dramatic drop in MMR uptake rates.

Following the publication of an earlier 1995 paper on a possible link between a vaccine and inflammatory bowel disease, Dr Wakefield said he received a call from a parent, referred to as Mrs 2, who said her child had become autistic following an MMR jab.

She said child had "terrible bowel problems" which she believed were related to the autism.

Dr Wakefield told the GMC he advised Mrs 2 to ask for a referral to Professor John Walker-Smith at St Bartholomew's Hospital.

Dr Wakefield, 51, now lives in Austin, Texas, where he is the executive director of the Thoughtful House Centre for Children, a developmental disorder clinic.

He and professors Walker-Smith and Simon Murch are all accused of serious professional misconduct and face being struck off the medical register. They all deny the charges.

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