"Like Your Most Paranoid, Far-Out Conspiratorial Left-Wing Nightmare," But It's True...

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74. Unfamiliar with the facts? Join the club.

Professor John Walker-Smith was Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s co-author on the controversial Lancet “MMR paper" and is widely regarded as the co-founder of pediatric gastroenterology as an independent field with Dr. Allan Walker of Harvard Medical School. Really.

Professor John Walker-Smith appealed the original verdict, despite the enormous toll in time and expense, and in 2012 was completely exonerated of all charges. John Stone has written extensively about the excruciating minutiae of the case and is highly capable of vigorously refuting any detractors WITH THE FACTS. Perform a site search for his columns at AOA, then read his work.

Full UK Court Decision in John Walker-Smith Appeal here: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2012/503.html

Alternatively, read a brief article from The Guardian or a press release by parents of children with autism from the US (the Canary Party) or parents of children with autism from the UK (Cry Shame), as I did.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/10131156

MMR doctor wins High Court appeal

Press Association, Tuesday March 6 2012

Professor John Walker-Smith appealed against the General Medical Council's (GMC) determination that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct. His fight for his reputation was supported by the parents of many children with autism and bowel disease seen by him at the Royal Free Hospital, north London, up to his retirement in 2001.

Mr Justice Mitting, sitting at London's High Court, ruled the GMC decision "cannot stand". He quashed the finding of professional misconduct and the striking-off.

Calling for changes in the way GMC fitness to practise panel hearings are conducted in the future, the judge said of the flawed handling of Prof Walker-Smith's case: "It would be a misfortune if this were to happen again."

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In a written ruling, the judge made it clear the judgment was the end of the case, and the GMC did not intend to appeal.

http://www.canaryparty.org/index.php/the-news/82-senior-author-of-mmr-paper-john-walker-smith-wins-appeal

Senior Author of MMR Paper, John Walker-Smith, Wins Appeal

Written by The Canary Party
Wednesday, 07 March 2012 16:13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s co-author on controversial Lancet “MMR paper” completely exonerated of all charges of professional misconduct

World renowned pediatric gastroenterologist Prof. John Walker-Smith won his appeal today against the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council regulatory board that had ruled against both him and Andrew Wakefield for their roles in the 1998 Lancet MMR paper, which raised questions about a link to autism. The complete victory means that Walker-Smith has been returned to the status of a fully licensed physician in the UK, although he had already retired in 2001 — six years before the GMC trial even began.

Justice John Mitting ruled on the appeal by Walker-Smith, saying that the GMC “panel’s determination cannot stand. I therefore quash it.” He said that its conclusions were based on “inadequate and superficial reasoning and, in a number of instances, a wrong conclusion.” The verdict restores Walker-Smith’s name to the medical register and his reputation to the medical community. This conclusion is not surprising, as the GMC trial had no actual complainants, no harm came to the children who were studied, and parents supported Walker-Smith and Wakefield through the trial, reporting that their children had medically benefited from the treatment they received at the Royal Free Hospital.

While John Walker-Smith received funding to appeal the GMC decision from his insurance carrier, his co-author Andrew Wakefield did not — and was therefore unable to mount an appeal in the high court.

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Today, almost 14 years after the paper was published, the high court determined that John Walker-Smith was innocent of the wrongdoing alleged by the GMC. Judge Mitting reported that the GMC, “on the basis of sensible instructions, does not invite me to remit it to a fresh Fitness to Practice panel for redetermination. The end result is that the finding of serious professional misconduct and the sanction of erasure are both quashed.”

More at link.

http://www.jabs.org.uk/

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CryShame press release - 9 March 2013

Important new research ( http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0058058 ) reports similar findings to the work of Dr Andrew Wakefield in the 1998 Lancet and in subsequent paper in the early 2000s

Groundbreaking new research examines the molecular structure of inflammatory material taken from the bowels of autistic children. It compares the structure of diseased biopsies in the autistic children with biopsies from three groups of non-autistic children with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and histologically normal (the controls).

Previous research confirmed the pathological and immunological make-up of biopsies of autistic children, but had not to date identified its specific molecular structure. Children with the four different conditions have been found to have similar findings of inflammation. But it was not clear if this was the same condition shared by all four groups; or if a distinct condition was specific to autistic children alone; or if indeed there was no disease in the autistic group. A molecular analysis of the genetic structure found in the inflamed bowel tissue of children in each group would provide initial answers to these questions.

To date government and medical scientists continue to deny an association between autism and bowel disease. In the UK there is currently no research into the association between autism and chronic bowel disease. This has been the predicament since the government and medical profession waged a campaign to discredit research from the Royal Free Hospital led by Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998 and the early 2000s that first identified the presence of bowel disease in autistic children.

Following years of denial from government and the medical profession, new research published in the leading online journal PLOS ONE confirms the presence of intestinal disease in autistic children and supports reports from many parents of ongoing painful gastric problems in their autistic children.

The research studied bowel samples from 25 autistic, 8 Crohn's, 5 ulcerative colitis and 15 normal control children and found that inflammatory material obtained from the biopsies of autistic children had a distinct molecular structure that was different from the other three groups.

This is an important finding of the distinct genetic expression that has now been identified in autistic children as distinct from non-autistic children with Crohns, ulcerative colitis and normal bowels. It paves the way for future research into the specific molecular structure of the inflammation affecting autistic children and hopefully will lead to new interventions and treatment.

Background Notes

1. The first paper to bring to public attention the presence of bowel disease in autistic children was Wakefield AJ, (1998) 'Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children'.The Lancet published this paper in 1998 but subsequently retracted it in 2010 after the GMC found Dr Wakefield and Professor Walker-Smith guilty of serious professional misconduct.

2. Several former colleagues went on in the early 2000s to study the nature of the bowel disease in autistic children, focusing on the pathology of gut tissue and the presence of autoimmune features in the bowel (eg Furlano et al (2001) 'Colonic CD8 and ?? T-cell infiltration with epithelial damage in children with autism', Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 138, 3).

3. The senior research leader of the Lancet and subsequent papers was Professor John Walker-Smith who in March 2012 had all the charges of professional misconduct made by the GMC quashed on appeal by Justice Mitting in the High Court.

4. Government Minister admits more needs to be done to research autism and bowel disease. Read letter here.

MORE (links cited in comments of 2012 post discussing resolution of appeal at AOA):

http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/news/clue-gi-problems-plague-many-kids-autism
http://mbio.asm.org/content/3/1/e00261-11

Apparently, this information is actively blocked at Wikipedia. Why might that be? It is obscene to disparage these suffering parents while deliberately misrepresenting THE FACTS, as some (not all) do.