More MMR Grief in Britain

One third of the members of a British government committee that has advised that the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella is safe have financial interests in drug companies that make the treatment.

Twelve of the 36 members of the British Committee on Safety of Medicines have financial links with the MMR manufacturers, whose products they have given the all-clear on the basis of published research. Most members are academics or medical experts who specialize in pharmacology.

Five of them hold shares in the drug companies, or are paid consultants, while another seven have received grants or sponsorship from them to fund academic studies or clinical trials.

All members declare their financial interests in a register and before meetings. The chairman then decides whether they can participate in discussions.

Campaigners against the MMR vaccine, who fear it causes autism or bowel disease in children, claim the financial links between drug watchdogs and the pharmaceutical industry could lead to a conflict of interest.

While the government and most of the medical establishment argue that the vaccine is safe, research by Dr Andrew Wakefield, of the Royal Free hospital, London, claimed the trials leading to the MMR vaccine's adoption in Britain were too brief to detect the feared complications.

The Sunday Times, London January, 28 2001

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT:

One never ceases to be amazed at the amount of corruption involved in getting these vaccines approved and implemented into our culture. The drug companies are again pushing their vaccines on the public.

But this problem is certainly not confined to Great Britain. The problem of conflicts of interest in drug approvals is at least as bad, if not worse, in the US. A report last year in the USA Today illustrated this problem of conflicts of interest very nicely.

Related Articles:

USA Today Exposes Conflicts of Interest in FDA Drug Approvals

Prominent Scientists Assert MMR Vaccine Should Not Have Been Licensed in the UK

Doctors Admit MMR Vaccine Doubts

MMR Links to 170 Cases of Autism

Finnish Study Attempts to Confirm MMR Safety

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