Was that what happened a few years ago with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine?
Parents heard that the vaccine may cause autism. Dr. Salmon: Yes. A British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, observed that, of the 12 children he was treating for bowel disease, 6 were also autistic. And those same six had had the MMR vaccine. So he made the conclusion that the vaccine was a cause of the autism. It’s important to note that his conclusion was based on an observation, not a scientific study. However, he published his findings in a respected British medical journal, The Lancet, and it got a lot of media attention. Once people heard this news they became alarmed, and even after later studies confirmed that the MMR is not linked to autism, the suspicion persists. But parents should feel comforted knowing that both the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics have concluded that the MMR vaccine doesn’t cause autism. P&C: So why does that suspicion, or fear, persist? Dr. Salmon: You have to look at it from a parent’s perspective. If you have an autistic child, yo
