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Callous Disregard: Autism and Vaccines: The Truth Behind a Tragedy Hardcover – May 24, 2010
| Andrew J. Wakefield (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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In the pursuit of possible links between childhood vaccines, intestinal inflammation, and neurologic injury in children, Wakefield lost his job in London’s Royal Free Hospital, his country of birth, his career, and his medical license. A recent General Medical Council ruling stated that he was “dishonest, irresponsible and showed callous disregard for the distress and pain of children.” Maligned by the medical establishment and mainstream media, Wakefield endeavors to set the record straight in Callous Disregard. While explaining what really happened, he calls out the organizations and individuals that are acting not for the sake of children affected by autism, but in their own self-interests.
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSkyhorse
- Publication dateMay 24, 2010
- Dimensions6 x 6.3 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101616081694
- ISBN-13978-1616081690
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“As a mother of a boy who regressed into autism immediately following his MMR vaccination, I welcome this book unreservedly . . . Whatever your thoughts on the issue, if you read nothing else at all on the vaccine-autism debate, this has to be the most crucial book you read.” (Polly Tommey, editor of The Autism File)
“Andrew Wakefield has been subjected to extraordinary criticism and condemnation from professional colleagues and the wider community since he first questioned the safety of the MMR vaccine. In this book he answers his critics—powerfully and comprehensively—and sets the record straight. It is essential reading for anyone wanting to know the truth behind the MMR debate and the politics of vaccination policy.” (Dr. Richard Halvorsen, author of The Truth about Vaccines)
“Meeting Dr. Andy Wakefield changed our lives and . . . we are forever grateful. His wise and measured advice about vaccinations helped us dodge a bullet . . . Our fourth son [had] multiple allergies and repeated infections . . . We now fully realize [he] would have been a victim of immune overload had we followed the regular vaccine schedule. . . . [He] is [now] bright and healthy . . . This book provides a terrifying insight into what has been happening behind the scenes as efforts redouble to silence Dr. Wakefield . . . It is a wake-up call to those who think [he] is anything other than a modern day hero fighting for all of our children.” (Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan, Troublemaker Studios, Austin, Texas)
“Dr. Wakefield sets the record straight. It was not he who showed callous disregard towards vulnerable, sick children with autism. It was the British medical establishment, the General Medical Council, the media and the pharmaceutical industry that threw the children under the bus to protect the vaccine program. This is a book for everyone who cares about our future.” (Mary Holland, Esq., co-founder, Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy)
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Skyhorse (May 24, 2010)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1616081694
- ISBN-13 : 978-1616081690
- Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 6.3 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #376,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #104 in Vaccinations
- #119 in Immunology (Books)
- #217 in Health Policy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Dr Andrew Wakefield, MB, BS, FRCS, FRCPath, is an academic gastroenterologist. He received his medical degree from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School (part of the University of London) in 1981, one of the third generation of his family to have studied medicine at that teaching hospital.
He pursued a career in gastrointestinal surgery with a particular interest in inflammatory bowel disease. He qualified as Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1985 and in 1996 was awarded a Wellcome Trust Traveling Fellowship to study small-intestinal transplantation in Toronto, Canada. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2001. He has published over 130 original scientific articles, book chapters, and invited scientific commentaries.
In the pursuit of possible links between childhood vaccines, intestinal inflammation, and neurologic injury in children, Dr. Wakefield lost his job in the Department of Medicine at London’s Royal Free Hospital, his country, his career, and his medical license.
He is married to Carmel, a physician and a classical radio presenter. They have four children, James, Sam, Imogen, and Corin, and a black mongrel called Bella.
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In his book Wakefield specifically states that he is not "anti-vaccine" but that safety must come first (page 5). After researching scientific papers on the use of the MMR vaccine, he also criticizes the lack of quality safety studies having been conducted for its use (pages 70, 73, and 226). Wakefield documents the actions of the then Dean of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (Chapters Three and Six), the then editor of the journal The Lancet (Chapters Seven and Eight), and the writer of articles in The Sunday Times containing inaccuracies and false allegations (Chapter Twelve), all contributing to discrediting the Lancet report.
In Chapter Ten Wakefield points out the perils of medical specialists' operating within their own comfortable, but sometimes isolating, specialties of medical knowledge, leading to "...antagonism engendered by different perceptions of a condition, sometimes within the same medical specialty but more commonly between or among different medical disciplines" (page 143). Is autism a genetic disease, a psychiatric condition, or a gut-brain disorder? Wakefield argues for the latter gastrointestinal approach (page 44) (and it is revealing that now this approach is receiving much research attention). He also points out that studies of vaccine safety and of associations between certain viruses and autism have been published in the past (page 140; and Timeline, pages 250, 251, 254, 255, 256, 259, 262, and 263, under the Timeline heading of "Relevant scientific publications other than from Royal Free"). In his Timeline of events (pages 250 through 265), Wakefield documents much that is written in the book's text. The Timeline headings of: "Date," "Events at the Royal Free," "Events at the UK Department of Health," "Events at The Lancet," "Relevant scientific publications other than from Royal Free," "Evens in the national media," and "Events at the GMC" allow one to easily locate relevant facts.
Wakefield and James Moody caution, on page 245 of the book's Afterword, that given what happened to Wakefield, "Doctors just won't take the risk of a protracted investigation..." that later may be used against them or may cause them to lose their medical license. Rather, they "...will settle in to the same mediocrity of doling out medicine 'by the books.' " Reading this narrative of what happened to a doctor challenging medical orthodoxy when the latter is placed above patient safety, requires concentration and attention to detail, but the account is gripping. There exist many scientific studies on important medical topics, studies funded by various organizations and industries, and which doctors and their patients often don't have the background or the time to read and digest. Still, most patients must rely upon the accuracy and timelines of the learning curves of those whom they do choose to be their healthcare providers. Andrew Wakefield is a trained gastroenterologist who upped his medical learning curve by doing the necessary research, but in doing so he also, figuratively speaking, stepped over some traditional boundaries separating the bodies of knowledge of some medical specialties from one another. He also challenged some basic tenets of many immunologists, virologists, and other medical experts, as well as those of the vaccine industry, and he has paid a price. This book's text and the Timeline which accompanies it tell the story, and the Timeline also challenges those whose inaccuracies contributed to the loss of Wakefield's medical license. Perhaps those critics can suggest changes to the contents of Wakefield's Timeline with their own factual documentation, if they have any. If they can not or will not, then that fact alone supports the accuracy of Wakefield's account. For the sakes of patients and those other physicians willing to listen to their patients or their advocates and then wishing to advise them based upon the best medical knowledge available to them without fear of punishment and, perhaps, regardless of any harmful medical dogma, Andrew Wakefield's license to practice medicine should be reinstated, and soon.
Even so, he shreds the case that the GMC (General Medical Council) used to attack him, and broke many of their own rules of confidentiality, ethics and accepted practice in doing so. Several doctors involved in the prosecution have now been accused of lying under oath. Now Wakefield appears to be an honest and courageous man - the kind that we want all doctors to be.
In the book, James Moody, Esquire who appears to be a lawyer, sums up the evidence more succinctly. Now we know that Wakefield's group was not performing research but generating new hypotheses for causes of clinical symptoms, did not say that the MMR vaccine causes autism and was not paid by lawyers acting for the parents. The GMC confused his experimental work with research and accused him of not receiving ethical committee approval for the research involved. But he didn't need it for diagnostic testing and there was an abundance of oversight and approvals for everything that he did.
No children were harmed but were instead treated for their painful symptoms.And medical science was advanced by studying the precise nature of their illnesses and possible causes.
Those with any experience of the medical profession and even a little knowledge of human behaviour will see immediately that this was an attempt to stop testing that could expose the British Health Service to lawsuits because they knew in advance that the MMR vaccine that they approved could cause severe health problems - meningitis for just one. It was also to protect the vaccine companies who received a kind of "get out of jail free card" when the vaccine was first approved. To protect their behinds they had to do something and the easiest thing was to make Wakefield into a scapegoat.
If this is what they can do to a professional in their own old boys' club, then what do they care about autistic kids or anyone's kids for that matter?
Only three complaints: the print is small and in Times Roman, making it harder to read, and Dr. Wakefield's writing style is for a graduate or post graduate level medical audience. He should explain in parenthesis or in footnotes some of the more obtuse references for an average reader. eg.: anaphylaxsis. Lastly, the internet buzz is that he was working on his own vaccine to become very rich. I understand that he can't deal with every single attack that comes his way, but he might have mentioned in a single sentence or two why this was not true. Otherwise, it looks like it could be remotely feasible to some.
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All he wanted to do was investigate further .... do read this and make up your own mind.








