Doctor at centre of MMR controversy 'paid children at son's party £5 for blood samples'

THE doctor who sparked the MMR controversy paid children £5 to take their blood samples at his son's birthday party, a disciplinary panel heard yesterday.

Dr Andrew Wakefield is accused of showing "callous disregard for the distress and pain" he knew or ought to have known the children might suffer as a result of his actions. He is also accused of abusing his position of trust and bringing the medical profession into disrepute.

Dr Wakefield and Professors John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch are appearing before the General Medical Council (GMC) Fitness to Practise Panel in London to hear disciplinary charges against them. They are accused of serious professional misconduct and face being struck off.

The trio published a paper in the Lancet medical journal in February 1998 suggesting there could be a link between the triple jab of mumps, measles and rubella, and bowel disease and autism. It led to falling numbers of parents immunising their children and a row over whether Tony Blair, the then-prime minister, had vaccinated his son, Leo.

It is alleged that Dr Wakefield approached children at the birthday party offering £5 to give blood for research.

While making a presentation to the MIND Institute in California on 20 March, 1999, he apparently told delegates about the incident "in humorous terms" and said he intended to take blood samples in the same way in future, the hearing heard.

The charges, which were read to the five-man panel, continued: "Your conduct was unethical in that you took blood from children in an inappropriate social setting, offered financial inducement to children to obtain blood samples, and showed a callous disregard for the distress and pain that you knew or ought to have known the children involved might suffer."

Dr Wakefield was accused of being "dishonest" and "irresponsible" when putting his views about MMR across for publication. It was claimed he should have realised his linking of MMR with autism would have "major public health implications" and would attract intense public and media interest.

But supporters of Dr Wakefield have collected more than 7,000 signatures in an online petition. Before the hearing yesterday, parents gathered to show their support for Dr Wakefield - who now works in the US - by holding placards, clapping and cheering as he walked in.

Some signs read: "We're with Wakefield", while others read: "Wakefield Cares".

He and his wife, Carmel, posed for pictures while a few parents chanted: "There's only one Andrew Wakefield" and one shouted: "It's a witch hunt."

One supporter was Sue Gilbert, from Bath, whose 16-year-old son, Adam, has Asperger's syndrome.

She said: "My son had the MMR jab at 14 months and had a terrible reaction. About ten or 11 days later he came out in a measles rash, he was very poorly. Prior to the MMR, he was a totally normal child."

The allegations against the doctors relate to investigations for their study on 12 youngsters with bowel disorders carried out between 1996 and 1998. At the time, all three doctors were employed at the Royal Free Hospital's medical school in London, with honorary clinical contracts at the Royal Free Hospital.

They are accused of performing lumbar punctures on children without proper approval and "contrary" to the children's clinical interests.

Dr Wakefield and Prof Walker-Smith are also accused of acting "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in failing to disclose in the Lancet paper the method by which they recruited patients for the study. It is also alleged a drug was administered to one child for experimental reasons.

One of the key allegations against Dr Wakefield is that he was being paid at the time for advising solicitors on legal action by parents who believed their children had been harmed by MMR.

It was alleged that he accepted £50,000 from the Legal Aid Board for research to support litigation by parents.

Another charge is that he ordered investigations "without the requisite paediatric qualifications".

All three doctors are accused of conducting the study on a basis which was not approved by the hospital's ethics committee.

Last night, Jackie Fletcher, founder of the campaign group JABS, stood by the doctors and said the families were adamant that MMR had damaged their children.

She said: "My son is severely handicapped. We're living with the evidence. The Department of Health should be investigating. We've given them the names of 1,200 children who we believe have been damaged by MMR. They have done nothing."

Several Royal Colleges and faculties signed a statement ahead of the hearing, saying there was no evidence of a link between MMR and autism.

The statement read: "The undersigned believe that the MMR triple vaccine protects the health of children.

"A large body of scientific evidence shows no link between the vaccine and autism."

The three men deny the charge of serious misconduct and the hearing is expected to last for three months.

SUPPORTERS GATHER OUTSIDE HEARING TO ACCUSE GMC OF 'WITCH HUNT'

THE doctor who prompted a public-health alert over the MMR vaccine was given a hero's welcome outside the General Medical Council yesterday, despite facing allegations of serious professional misconduct.

Dr Andrew Wakefield, who controversially linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine with autism, was greeted by a crowd of about 50 protesters who believe he has been victimised by the Department of Health.

Yesterday, outside the GMC's central London offices in Euston Road, emotions were running high, with parents chanting support for the doctor.

The campaigners, from grandmothers to young children, waved placards reading "Witch hunt" and "MMR a jab too far". Emotive messages from the parents of children suffering from autism were also displayed on noticeboards outside the hearing and security into the building was tight.

One of the mothers showing support for the doctor was Isabella Thomas, whose online petition has so far attracted more than 7,000 signatures. Mrs Thomas, 50, from Somerset, believes the MMR led to severe reactions in two of her sons, leaving them with bowel disease and autism.

"These doctors are put on trial because they tried to say parents were concerned about the vaccine," she said.

"This is medical negligence by the Department of Health."

She and her husband, Ian, 49, began to worry about MMR after their son Michael, was given the vaccine aged 14 months.

"Michael immediately began to react to it. He had high-pitched screaming and a high temperature which I could not get down.

"He changed from being one baby into another. During that period of time, it was like having a wild animal."

When her youngest son, Terry, was a few months old, one consultant said that if he did not have MMR, he could die from measles because he was prone to convulsions. He also suffered a serious reaction with a high temperature.

Mrs Thomas repeatedly visited doctors and questioned the safety of the MMR jab.

"They basically threatened that if I carried on causing a fuss then my children would be put on the at-risk register."

Mrs Thomas says it is important to stand by Dr Wakefield as he was the only doctor who listened to her.

Last year, Mrs Thomas and other parents took drug companies to court but the refusal to grant legal aid meant the case was stopped because they could not afford to continue.