Comment Is Free But Facts Are Sacred Makes A Correction

Sunday, March 14, 2009 published a CiF article by Kent Miller: The real agony of autism. It contained a common error about the MMR vaccine and mercury (UK thiomersal, US thimerosal):

A special US court overseeing a vaccination-liability fund recently ruled that the parents of an autistic girl, Michelle Cedillo, won’t get any money from it. The judge put a pretty firm kibosh on the argument that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine – or its mercury preservative, thimerosal – had caused Michelle’s disability.

Now, we have been round this topic with both the Guardian and The Observer on previous occasions.

Andrew Wakefield Lodges Complaint About Brian Deer with Press Complaints Commission

May we direct your attention to Dr Andrew Wakefield’s 58 page submission to the Press Complaints Commission complaining of Brian Deer’s recent revelations in Sunday Times.

These allegations are false and/or misleading and will have a hugely adverse effect on my credibility as a scientist and my ability to ever practice again in my chosen field. More importantly, the impact of Mr. Deer’s false and misleading claims upon the perception of medical professionals of the medical disorder suffered by the Lancet children and therefore, the provision of adequate care for autistic children, is potentially devastating.

It is more probable that any shards of credibility as a scientist disappeared with the testimony of Dr Nick Chadwick and Professor Stephen Bustin at the Autism Omnibus Proceedings in 2007.