Medical journal: Study linking autism, vaccines is 'elaborate fraud'

As reported in just about every news source imaginable this morning (CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph to name a few), the infamously inimitable study by Andrew Wakefield linking MMR vaccination and autism in children has been declared an "elaborate fraud," according to the British Medical Journal BMJ:

BMJ, which published the results of its investigation, concluded Dr. Andrew Wakefield misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible. The journalist who wrote the BMJ articles said Thursday he believes Wakefield should face criminal charges.

Wakefield's fraudulent research helped to ignite an anti-vaccination movement in the UK and United States that has led to a resurgence of diseases such as whooping cough, killing and sickening scores of people.

The British government stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May, around the same time that the 

Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May, following the February 2, 2010 full retraction of the original article by its publisher, The Lancet. In May, The American Journal of Gastroenterology retracted a study making further use of Wakefield's data.