Wakefield and Colleagues Should Be Knighted, Not Persecuted

 U.K. Medical Inquiry Threatens Scientific Inquiry & Progress in Autism

 The National Autism Association (NAA), SafeMinds, Unlocking Autism,
Generation Rescue, Autism One and Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) wish to
express support for Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues who are unjustly
facing a fitness to practice hearing by the General Medical Council (GMC) of
the United Kingdom. Dr. Wakefield, a pioneer in autism research and
treatment, begins his historic testimony today. The undersigned
organizations, along with other U.S. families affected by autism, join in
spirit with the U.K. families who are demonstrating today at the GMC offices
in London.

 The GMC prosecution is a frontal attack on the health and well-being of
those around the world who have an autism spectrum disorder. Scientific and
medical progress in this field will only be made through open minded
thinking on how best to treat and prevent the disabling conditions that
accompany this complex diagnosis. The GMC's actions have a chilling effect
on the practice of medicine and suppress honest and open scientific inquiry.

 Dr. Wakefield and his team of elite researchers at the Royal Free Hospital
in London did exactly as they were called to do by their professional
curiosity and ethics - find out why so many children have autism and whether
gastrointestinal problems play a role in the disorder. Their seminal 1998
paper published in The Lancet reported a series of observations whose common
features had coalesced as a new syndrome, autistic enterocolitis. The
parents of many patients noted a link between the onset of symptoms and
receipt of the measles-mumps-rubella combination vaccine (MMR), but out of
an abundance of caution the Lancet paper claimed that the study did not
prove an association between MMR and autism. Rather, it prudently called for
further research.

 The underlying goal of the GMC hearing is to take Dr. Wakefield and
colleagues to task for daring to even hint at a vaccine-autism link. The
"official" reason is to determine if the scientists profited from their
research, but in fact the inquiry is a desperate tactic by vaccination
proponents to quiet those who raise questions about the safety of current
vaccination practices such as combining three live viruses into the single
MMR injection. Recent developments in the U.S. have vindicated Dr. Wakefield's
hypotheses. Gastrointestinal problems are now known to be present in many
autistic children and gastroenterology has become a standard discipline for
autism medical care. The U.S. court for vaccine injury compensation has
found that vaccination against multiple diseases on one day led to a case of
regression into autism in a child who was developing normally.

 Dr. Wakefield should be knighted for his cutting-edge creativity, not
persecuted. He made his hypotheses a decade ago, and the rest of science is
just now catching up. The public health bureaucrats and their agents - in
the U.K. and the U.S. - are more interested in covering up their own
misdeeds, poor judgment, or inaction. These include a refusal to make the
single monovalent measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines broadly available in
response to legitimate concerns over the safety of the triple MMR injection,
a refusal to conduct a valid study comparing the rate of autism and other
health outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, and a refusal to
reexamine infant immunization schedules to increase safety. Autism spectrum
disorder rates in the U.K. may be as high as 1 in 66 and in the U.S. they
are said to be 1 in 150 children, but the public health establishment
refuses to declare autism a health emergency, refuses to apply the resources
to understanding the disorder, and refuses to conduct the type of unbiased
research required.

 The U.K. medical establishment has driven Dr. Wakefield from his home, but
his loss is America's gain. We are blessed to have Dr. Wakefield as Director
of the Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas. In a few short
years, this has become an international mecca for research, education, and
treatment for children with autism. We look forward to a fair GMC hearing
and to further ground-breaking research from Dr. Wakefield and his team.

 For more information about autism and the undersigned organizations, visit
www.autism.org. Details about today's rally in London are available at
http://www.cryshame.com/.

 National Autism Association

 SafeMinds

 Unlocking Autism

 Generation Rescue

 Autism One

 Talk About Curing Autism (TACA)