Autism/Vaccine Fraud

You've probably read about this elsewhere by now, but just in case you haven't, I feel this is important enough to reiterate. Reporter Brian Deer, writing for The Sunday Times, has uncovered evidence that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the father of the "vaccines cause autism" boondoggle that's been sweeping the world's gullible, faked the data he used to back up that claim. The story is long and complicated, but Wakefield's original ten-year-old study forms the basis for many of the spurious claims about a non-existent vaccine/autism link that are still made today. But while this revelation is just another hole in the already leaky antivaccinationist boat, it's also true that even if Wakefield's claims weren't outright falsified, there's still plenty of evidence that they aren't true. There is no link between vaccines and autism, and it doesn't take the public disgrace of Andrew Wakefield to prove that. Still, the forces of unreason will no doubt keep moving on ahead. They'll find other causes for autism, other reasons to distrust vaccines, and otherwise keep their heads buried firmly in their asses. Read the whole article here.