In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Controversial autism study retracted.

(USA Today) Twelve years after the first publishing of Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study in 1998, The Lancet retracted a discredited study. The study linked the children's vaccine for mumps, rubella and measles to the onset of autism and has been abandoned by some of the study's co-authors because of its mistaken claims. But the damage has been done. Vaccination rates have plummeted and measles rates have risen. When conducting its investigation, the British General Medical Council did not examine whether or not the study's conclusions were correct, but focused instead on Wakefield's dishonest and unethical approach to collecting his research. 

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Science Direct Journal

The paper that started it all.
Wakefield and colleague's controversial, and now retracted, paper: Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children.

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AnswerBag Debates

Debate: Are autism and vaccines linked?
This website considers how parents and doctors have worked tirelessly to pinpoint the cause of autism, but the answer still remains elusive. It asks, are vaccines the missing link? The debate begins with Dr. Karima Hirani of SafeMinds and the National Austism Association. She presents an argument for vaccines triggering autism and examines new research that supports the theory, using infant macaque monkeys. Arguing against her Dr. Jennifer Shu, of the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Dr. Bryna Siegel and Kevin Leitch. They say that the timing is wrong (children show signs of autism before the age of vaccinations), and that autism is likely transferred by genes, among other arguments.