Absolutely frustrating. All the pseudoscience kept pointing back at this one study, though, so I don't get why it took so long to pull the rug out from under it.
At least, I guess, they are publicizing it to celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday... I guess no solace to the parents whose children have died from measles.
That would be a great place to start researching the psych behind pseudoscience and what Colbert termed "truthiness"- believing something in your gut or "on faith" or anecdote being more valuable to so many people than actual facts.
It may not have been purely a psychological issue. There are some damning details mentioned in this Times follow-up piece:
"...before the examination of any of these children Wakefield was already employed by a lawyer for the anti-vaccination pressure group, Jabs, to establish a case against the manufacturers of vaccines. One month before the first child in the study arrived at Wakefield's hospital, Wakefield had already filed a confidential document stating that the object of his research was to discover evidence 'acceptable in a court of law' of a link between MMR vaccines and 'certain conditions' reported by families seeking compensation."
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At least, I guess, they are publicizing it to celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th birthday... I guess no solace to the parents whose children have died from measles.
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"...before the examination of any of these children Wakefield was already employed by a lawyer for the anti-vaccination pressure group, Jabs, to establish a case against the manufacturers of vaccines. One month before the first child in the study arrived at Wakefield's hospital, Wakefield had already filed a confidential document stating that the object of his research was to discover evidence 'acceptable in a court of law' of a link between MMR vaccines and 'certain conditions' reported by families seeking compensation."
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