I was on Channel 4 News last night talking about the MMR Scare – up against Richard Halvorsen – which you might like to take a look at.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
In the interview, I make a claim that Halvorsen personally profits from mistrust in the MMR vaccine – the reference for this is the price list of the company which Halvorsen runs, here; http://www.babyjabs.co.uk/baby_vaccines_prices.htm
In terms of the background of my involvement with all this, I attended the ‘showdown meeting’ at The Lancet with the investigative journalist Brian Deer the week before original allegations of conflict of interest were officially made. We identified the serious problems of medical and research ethics raised by the intrusive and burdensome procedures carried out.
I wrote about the ethical concerns in the Sunday Times at the time and raised the matter in Parliament, demanding an inquiry.
Just before the findings were announced at the GMC yesterday, I made a press statement, saying; “If the GMC finds against Dr Wakefield on the major issues of research ethics involving children, I will be calling for the strongest sanctions to be imposed.
As well as being an MP interested in science, health, and evidence-based policy-making, I’ve been a long-standing member of the BMA’s Medical Ethics Committee, and at the time of Dr Wakefield’s research was a member of a leading Research Ethics Committee in Oxford, responsible for deciding whether or not to approve similar intrusive medical studies on children.
Dr Evan Harris 