§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what scientific assessment he has made of the paper published in The Lancet in 1998 by Dr. Andrew Wakefield on the possible links between the MMR vaccine and autism; what research has been commissioned by his Department on the subject since the publication of Dr. Wakefield's paper; and if he will place in the Library copies of scientific critiques of Dr. Wakefield's paper commissioned or endorsed by his Department. [156637]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Government's independent scientific advisory body, the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM), has reviewed the work of Dr. Wakefield on the postulated association between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines and the development of autism and inflammatory bowel disease. This has included the study published in The Lancet in 1998. CSM has kept this issue under continual review and has consistently concluded that the available evidence does not support a causal association. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has also kept this issue under close review and is in full agreement with the CSM.
A study, subsequently published in The Lancet in 1999, was commissioned by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (then the Medicines Control Agency) to look at the occurrence of autism in children born within the North Thames region before and after the introduction of MMR vaccination. The results of this study do not support the suggested causal association between MMR vaccine and autism.
At the Chief Medical Officer's request, the Medical Research Council (MRC) held an independent scientific seminar on 23 March 1998 to review the work of Dr. Wakefield's group. At this seminar, Dr. Wakefield and his colleagues were given time fully to present their work including the data from the 1998 Lancet study. The meeting concluded that there was no evidence to indicate any link between MMR vaccination and bowel 551W disease or autism and no reason for a change in the MMR vaccination policy. The Chief Medical Officer endorsed the conclusions of the MRC panel.