Sunday, February 7, 2010
Censored on Naked Intimidation: The Wakefield Inquisition is Only the Tip of the Autism Censorship Iceberg
If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Naked Intimidation: The Wakefield Inquisition is Only the Tip of the Autism Censorship Iceberg, please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA, as well as what name you posted under.
Posted on AoA Feb. 1, 2010 at 1:22pm (EST)
ReplyDelete@Mr. Blaxill
“all three men guilty on all counts”
False. There are a number of counts for which the GMC ruled “Found not proved”. Please refrain from distortions like this.
“the procedures involved were routine”
False. Wakefield, et al., conducted clinically irrelevant colonoscopies, MRIs and lumbar punctures, despite documentary evidence that such procedures were not indicated (see, e.g., 23(d)(ii)).
Ultimately, the GMC looked solely at Wakefield’s, Walker-Smith and Murch’s ethical conduct in their research. They did not look at the science they were attempting. They did not evaluate the claims they made with regard to MMR and autism. They only looked at whether they behaved according to proper ethical principles, such as those spelled out in the Declaration of Helsinki, Nuremburg Code, Belmont Report, and ICH human protections guidelines, among others. They found that the physicians conducted their research unethically.
Wakefield, et al., should be punished accordingly, as should any physician-researcher who conducts themselves contrary to accepted ethical guidelines. This is not censorship.
Now, I hope you will allow this comment through, rather than censor it. It will be cross-posted elsewhere on the web.