Dateline has done a little better in this report, and at least gave Dr. Wakefield, the Galleleo of our times, a few minutes (far less when compared to that viper Deer & the charlatan Offit) BUT why were there no interviews with ANY of the original families from the original study? The usual course for a medical complaint is when the victim of the harm files the claim. But in this case, none of those 12 families participated --or WERE EVEN ALLOWED TO BE HEARD because they were ALL very grateful to Dr. Wakefield for at least listening to them.

Why wasn't Deer asked how often do investigative journalists bring complaints against doctors for their treatment of a patient. Deer claims that he never approached the GMC, yet there is written proof he initiated the investigation.

Who is actually paying Deer? Murdock? How much stock does Murdock own in pharmaceutical companies? Why doesn't the Dateline mention that the former head of the CDC now is head of Merck vaccine?

Too afraid to lose your pharma ad bucks perhaps?

Yeah for Dr. Wakefield!!!!!!!!!

Our country has lost all "safety" concerning vaccines in the name of money.

Get the Bird Flu, get the Flu Vaccine? It is all one in the same....kids and our miltary

are being vaccinated and killed.....wake up America.............wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah Dr. Wakefield.....we are on your side...............

God Bless You

My daugher has had severe constipation after receiving the MMR and chickenpox shot when she was 15 months old. She also lost eye contact, socialization, speech and everything else she had up until that point. I definitely believe that there is a connection between autism and gut/bowels.

When looking for information about a scientific subject, avoid biased opinions on all sides of the issue. Stick to peer-reviewed science journals.

Do not use regular Google. Use Google Scholar or, in the case of medical science, PubMed to look for information. See what the vast majority of medical science agrees on, not just those who profit from one opinion or another.

EARLI, a federal study exploring possible genetic and environmental risks for autism, is enrolling families in certain locations. www.earlistudy.org

Wow! Did Lauer have an agenda in that interview? I really couldn't tell because it was so fair and balanced. Dr Wakefield came across as rational and objective. Lauer was channelling lunatic Tom Cruise. He seemed really concerned with Wakefield's conflict of interest but not Paul Offit's - or his own. How much of NBC's advertising budget comes from pharmaceutical companies?

NBC is really reaching if they think they have any credibility after this sandbagging of a man of integrity. They have failed ( but not for lack of smearing) to provide any motive for Dr. Wakefield to perpetrate this "fraud" but clearly there are billions of reasons for the pharmaceutical companies to pay for their desired reporting on this issue so that they may continue to poison children with impunity for profit. This is cynicism at its worst. Matt Lauer, ask yourself the last question you asked Dr. Wakefield, "Isn't this the final blow to YOUR credibility?"  This was a very pathetic attempt at journalism.

Laura-842330 -- Nice! Wish I had formulated my thoughts so eloquently.

Dr. Wakefield is surely on the truth track as he would not be getting criticized if his facts were not true. I as a kid or as almost 50 year old never had autism but my thinking over they years was never at a B+ or above student in school. I believe that is from all the anti-seizure meds I have been on since 7 months old. Knowing that has been my life along with ''knowing foods with nitrates, MSG, Carrageenan, Soy Protein Concentrates, Soy Protein Isolates, (and other names which are many to fool us) can cause seizures and auras, maybe Dr. Wakefield needs to look at the real dangers of food additives and chemicals that is in our nations food supply and world wide food supply. I am convince that the FDA and AMA will never look out for our best interests. F=Food D=Drug A= Administration. No P that = protecting the people or public. The FDA and AMA is all about brainwashing us to believe that anyone of us at age 1 month to age 90 years old has to have shots or drugs of some type to cure or prevent a disease or illness from happening. It is no mystery why infants after a 6 months to 2 years may come down with a neurological condition. It is no mystery how people die after 90 years of living by taking some type of drug a doctor may tell them they need to take even when they are in good health until they start to take those drugs they are told to take. I am in the middle and do not want anymore medicines or shots yet I am to believe the doctors have all the right answers. Sure they do and I can walk on water as long as I do not see the wind. Dr. Wakefield needs to look into the food industry as well as he did with all the shot infants received over they past years. If all those experts claims these shots are safe, them maybe MSG, Nitrates, and all other chemicals and additives the FDA claims are safe is making life a misery for innocent infants and children. All parents needs to know what they are feeding their children. Search on every search engine about MSG, carageenan and all other bad brain killers that are in our foods and drinks. Dateline and all other shows could do everyone a great service by reporting the truth as one person affected at a very young age or older age are too many people to have a live of misery from an FDA claiming lies to be true. Dr. Wakefield, please research this for us all and especially the innocent infants and children that get hurt in it all. Thank you all to those who care. I believe that number is very low however. E-mail me to ask why I believe that if you choose to.

The journalism was very poor. They failed to interview any of the thousands of scientists involved in the hundreds of peer reviewed studies conducted by people with no connection to either the pharmaceutical industry or their own vaccines. Instead they made it look like it was one person's opinion against another.

In reality, the vast majority of the medical science community, who is not being paid by the pharmaceutical industry, agree that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Until the day we die, we'll believe vaccinations on top of antibiotic use was the trigger that unleashed our son's Autism. It was after he got the Varicella vaccine in '95, that we really saw a noticeable regression by our son. We looked back on his baby calendar, and can see a slowing down of progress after the MMR (given 7 days after completing his 1st ever course of antibiotics) and a total fracturing of his abilities over a 6 week period after his last DPT (given w/in a week of completing his 2nd course of antibiotics). His symptoms were pretty significant as he: rocked, flapped, spun, howled, lined up objects, screamed in pain, etc. He was in a self contained class. One of the aides had to regularly be near him as he was an "eloper" He was relatively unintelligible and untestable. I went to my 1st DAN conference in 1998. I remember telling Andy Wakefield sometime around 2000, that prior to starting the diet and supplements, one of our biggest problems was his suffering from AED. Andy gave me with a quizzical look until I replied, "Ass Eating Diarrhea". Then he smiled in understanding. I've met Andy and Dr K many times and they are in our prayers.

I understand the need to have the Brian Deer and Paul Offit types in your Autism story, but might we suggest you speak with parents of older kids who have benefited from ABA, TEACCH or Biomedical intervention. We had a pediatrician in our old hometown tell us to institutionalize our son. Now he's in his 3rd year of a 5 year high school plan. He's been on biomedical interventions since 1998 with Dr. Marvin Boris in NY and Dr. Julie Buckley in FL. From what we understand, he's the only kid w/an Autism diagnosis in our county's school district who's on track for a regular diploma. He's also become an award winning artist.

It seems once we were able to address his GI issues with Biomedial intervention, which is the crux of the work of Wakefield, Kriegsman and Thoughtful House, he's made huge strides and progress. If his Autism was strictly genetics, would this be possible? And if you really want to do an important story on Autism, interview the parents of older kids who have tried much, who have mortgaged their houses to the hilt for therapies, who have fought and begged for education and support and see what their lives are like, see how hard they work for a small advance, ask how afraid are they for their child's future and then you'll be doing a premo story on Autism.

Until the day we die, we'll believe vaccinations on top of antibiotic use were the trigger that unleashed our son's Autism. It was after he got the Varicella vaccine in '95, that we really saw a noticeable regression by our son. We looked back on his baby calendar, and can see a slowing down of progress after the MMR (given 7 days after completing his 1st ever course of antibiotics) and a total fracturing of his abilities over a 6 week period after his last DPT (given w/in a week of completing his 2nd course of antibiotics). His symptoms were pretty significant as he: rocked, flapped, spun, howled, lined up objects, screamed in pain, etc. He was in a self contained class. One of the aides had to regularly be near him as he was an "eloper" He was relatively unintelligible and untestable. I went to my 1st DAN conference in 1998. I remember telling Andy Wakefield sometime around 2000, that prior to starting the diet and supplements, one of our biggest problems was his suffering from AED. Andy gave me with a quizzical look until I replied, "Ass Eating Diarrhea". Then he smiled in understanding. I've met Andy and Dr K many times and they are in our prayers.

I understand the need to have the Brian Deer and Paul Offit types in your Autism story, but might we suggest you speak with parents of older kids who have benefited from ABA, TEACCH or Biomedical intervention. We had a pediatrician in our old hometown tell us to institutionalize our son. Now he's in his 3rd year of a 5 year high school plan. He's been on biomedical interventions since 1998 with Dr. Marvin Boris in NY and Dr. Julie Buckley in FL. From what we understand, he's the only kid w/an Autism diagnosis in our county's school district who's on track for a regular diploma. He's also become an award winning artist.

It seems once we were able to address his GI issues with Biomedial intervention, which is the crux of the work of Wakefield, Kriegsman and Thoughtful House, he's made huge strides and progress. If his Autism was strictly genetics, would this be possible? And if you really want to do an important story on Autism, interview the parents of older kids who have tried much, who have mortgaged their houses to the hilt for therapies, who have fought and begged for education and support and see what their lives are like, see how hard they work for a small advance, ask how afraid are they for their child's future and then you'll be doing a premo story on Autism.

I realize that the majority of the medical science community believes there is no link between vaccines and autism, but what about the thousands and thousands of parents that are saying that there child was fine before the vaccine and completely different afterwards. So many parents have the exact same story. It frustrates me that they are being dismissed!

Until the day we die, we'll believe vaccinations on top of antibiotic use were the trigger that unleashed our son's Autism. It was after he got the Varicella vaccine in '95, that we really saw a noticeable regression by our son. We looked back on his baby calendar, and can see a slowing down of progress after the MMR (given 7 days after completing his 1st ever course of antibiotics) and a total fracturing of his abilities over a 6 week period after his last DPT (given w/in a week of completing his 2nd course of antibiotics). His symptoms were pretty significant as he rocked, flapped, spun, howled, lined up objects, screamed in pain, etc. He was in a self contained class. One of the aides had to regularly be near him as he was an "eloper" He was relatively unintelligible and untestable. I went to my 1st DAN conference in 1998. I remember telling Andy Wakefield sometime around 2000, that prior to starting the diet and supplements, one of our biggest problems was his suffering from AED. Andy gave me with a quizzical look until I replied, "Ass Eating Diarrhea". Then he smiled in understanding. I've met Andy and Dr K many times and they are in our prayers.

I understand the need to have the Brian Deer and Paul Offit types in your Autism story, but might we suggest you speak with parents of older kids who have benefited from ABA, TEACCH or Biomedical intervention. We had a pediatrician in our old hometown tell us to institutionalize our son. Now he's in his 3rd year of a 5 year high school plan. He's been on biomedical interventions since 1998 with Dr. Marvin Boris in NY and Dr. Julie Buckley in FL. From what we understand, he's the only kid w/an Autism diagnosis in our county's school district who's on track for a regular diploma. He's also become an award winning artist.

It seems once we were able to address his GI issues with Biomedial intervention, which is the crux of the work of Wakefield, Kriegsman and Thoughtful House, he's made huge strides and progress. If his Autism was strictly genetics, would this be possible? And if you really want to do an important story on Autism, interview the parents of older kids who have tried much; who have mortgaged their houses to the hilt for therapies; who have fought and begged for education and support; and see what their lives are like. See how hard they work for a small advance; ask how afraid are they for their child's future and then you'll be doing a premo story on Autism.

Though it was a bit more balanced than any of Dr. Nancy's autism pieces, as other readers have pointed out, what conflict of interest does NBC have? Keep it balanced Matt! What are the conflicts of interest for the British reporter? Matt should have also covered the piece by Kennedy in Rolling Stone Magazine and some of his findings. Since the beginning of ANY medical journal writings, "Full disclosure" has not been a part of the discussion but should be. Does this mean the Lancet is going to go over EVERY article it has ever published and investigate the funding sources for each study? It's what should should be done based upon the need for FULL DISCLOSURE and the precedence they have now set. I believe the world would be surprised by what are now the common day treatments for diseases, and how their studies and treatments have been paid for.

A link between various vaccines and multiple sclerosis (MS), guillian-barre syndrome and other nervous system disorders has already been demonstrated. With MS there was a similar "it cannot be so" regardng the Hep B series and it is still a well kept secret. Interestingly and what no one wants to study is the sudden onset bowel inflamation in MS brought on by Hep B immunization (risk increases threefold for 2 yrs following vaccination) The awful and (for some) inconciveable truth is that the medical establishment/pharmaceutical companies will do anything to the Dr. Wakefields of the world. shame on them.

Mercury is very toxic to the nervous system, and vaccines can deliver huge amounts to proportionately small infants. If MMR vaccine is just one of a dozen and the others all have mercury, then studies showing no significant causal relationship for MMR will naturally be the result because so many of those infants are developing autism in those who might be susceptible, and one more vaccine may not show a significant increase. Honest researchers ought to compare the levels of autism in those who have received any vaccines with mercury and compared them with those who get no mercury, perhaps by using single dose vials of vaccine in which the preservative is not required. But this might show a huge problem for the millions of multi-dosed vials and hence be a financial loss for vaccine makers--something they don't want to consider. There is big money behind many of these studies with an intended outcome.

I'm watching this right now, worried that you're giving credibility to Wakefield and his brand of psuedoscience.

Dr. Gary Null offers expert testimony on vaccines and is seen on video at www.LeadingCauseOfDeathPrescriptionDrugs.com

Wakefield is handling the science the way it should be! Challenge a theory! Agreed, a control sample at a birthday party is out of the norm, but that doesn't mean there isn't legitimacy in other portions of his work, on the contrary. Multi-valent vaccines are not tolerable to 100% of the human population!!

For those on the defensive and saying "This is final, put it to rest." they are the scientists/medical professionals one shouldn't trust and whose judgments should be questioned. That's the purpose of research and science, to take it to the next level, whatever it may be.

what I meant to say about the Autism, M.S. and the sudden onset bowel issues in both is that this cannot be a coincidence. A true scientist would never say "there is no link." Science can only say "in this study no link was found." Science is about trees, not the forest. In researching Autism, Multiple Sclerosis and the like most scientists have blinders on and refuse to look up at all the clues in the forest. They refuse to listen to patients and parents. The drug companies don't pay researchers to look in the forest. They pay for one tree. Dr. Wakefield will one day be vindicated and we will, as a result of his discovery, know more about all kinds of neurological disorders triggered by the staggering amount of viruses and toxins we put in our bodies now. The link to the intestine, where 70% if immune system function is located, will also be understood. Thank you Dr. Wakefield.

For a better investigation watch Frontline's episode about the Autism/Vaccine link.

One thing I observed from that:

There are other countries with better studies than the US about the link. For example, one country (I'm sorry, it was a few weeks ago) has a database of which children had vaccinations and which did not. There was no difference in the incidence of autism between the vaccinated children and those who opted out.

The incidence of autism across the globe is fairly even, but the rate of vaccinations is not.

My son has autism. I've watched a lot of these programs, and done a lot of reading. I'm no doctor, but I did do some research in college; isn't a sample of 10 kids a little small?

The hundreds of independent studies show that parents have not been ignored. They have simply been proven wrong. It turns out that the causes of autism lie somewhere other than vaccines despite the anecdotal stories of parents. Based upon recent studies, It appears to have a genetic link. More research needs to be done on the true causes of autism rather than wasting resources on re-doing studies on vaccine-autism causation.

Wakefield is ignoring the scientific method. Science welcomes and even encourages challenges to existing theories. That is why Wakefield's initial study was published in a prestigious journal. After the challenge, however, the study needs to be replicated for the new idea to be embraced. If no peer reviewed study can replicate the results, the new idea is dismissed. If it is not, progress will never be made since everyone will do nothing but work on a discredited idea.

In real science, a different idea is brought forth and tested. Such as was done with the new idea for the genetic link to autism. Initial studies look promising and some have been replicated. Now larger studies need to be conducted to help verify or refute the new hypotheses.

Wakefield and the anti-vaxers refuse to move on to a new hypothesis and are just trying to stick to their status quo despite it being proven to be false.

I agree.  This was totally biased reporting, one-sided, and lacked truthful scientific reporting.

After reading some of the post, I can not forget what Senator Tom Harkin told the parents from the panel of him and other senators on the Autism hearings the senate had last summer on C-Span 2. His quote was similar to this.... Since there is no real medical evidence to comfirm everything you all say about your children is a proven fact, we will suspend this hearing and look into all your concerns of your childrens Autism at a later time and date. It was stated in the hearing about kids getting shots as some had mercury in them that parents believed caused their childs autism. Maybe Tom Harkin cares more about the drug industry and farming industry and Monsanto, ADM and others who are killing us all silently with their food chemicals and additives. Why does'nt the Drug and Farming industry & FDA get their funding and corporate welfare stopped until it is proven 100% that Mercury, MSG, and all the other junk they use is proven 100% that what they use will not harm or threaten any one persons life ? Will MSNBC, NBC, CNN, FNC, ABC, and CBS care enough to get the truth to protect us all ? Lets get all networks and all radio talk show host shows talk about what people like Tom Harkin and the rest off them do to protect the public and especially innocent infants and children. It will not happen though as too much money would be at risk for the truth to come out to protect the innocent. Evil will always exist unfortunately and neurologist will never be out of work.