U.K. medical regulator rips doctor's research practices on autism, vaccine link

LONDON — The British doctor whose suggestion of a link between the combined measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism caused vaccination rates to plunge, conducted his now-discredited research in a dishonest and irresponsible manner, medical authorities concluded Thursday.

It was the latest development in a long-running health controversy that has seen measles make a comeback among British children after being all but wiped out.

The General Medical Council, Britain's medical regulator, found Andrew Wakefield acted unethically in the way he collected blood samples from children and in his failure to disclose payments from lawyers representing parents who believed the vaccine had hurt their children.

The regulator also concluded Wakefield acted with "callous disregard" by conducting invasive tests on children that were not in their best medical interests.

Wakefield, who now lives and works in the United States, called the accusations "unfounded and unjust" and expressed deep disappointment with the finding. He said he had "no regrets" over his work.

In 1998, Wakefield caused a national — and, later, international — stir with research that he and other doctors conducted and published in the prestigious British medical journal Lancet that suggested a possible link between the MMR vaccine and child autism.

His subsequent, widely publicized comments that he could no longer in good conscience recommend the vaccine to parents caused a steep drop in vaccination rates across Britain. A vocal anti-vaccination movement also sprang up in the United States after Wakefield appeared on "60 Minutes."

The study, however, was based on 12 children, and 10 of the study's 13 authors have since renounced its conclusions. The Lancet said it should not have published it. Further studies have not been able to replicate the research results.

Although MMR vaccination rates have begun to recover, Britain has seen a surge in measles among children, more than 1,000 cases in 2008, an increase from several dozen annually a decade earlier.

In its findings Thursday, presented after an investigation that took more than two years, the regulator did not rule on Wakefield's conclusions from his research. But it said his research practices had been unacceptable.

Those included taking blood samples from children at his son's birthday party and paying them each about $8. He also performed spinal taps on children at a hospital without due regard for how they might be affected.

Whether disciplinary action will be taken, including revocation of Wakefield's right to practice medicine in Britain, will be decided in coming months.

Although he works in Austin, Texas, Wakefield went to London for the council's decision.

Material from The Associated Press is included in this report.