16/12/01 Sunday Express

Vaccine campaigners highlight links to makers of controversial MMR triple jab

Protest over watchdogs who hold drug shares

By Cyril Dixon

 

Anti-MMR campaigners called for an inquiry yesterday into the links between medical watchdogs and major pharmaceuticals firms.

The calls came as the Sunday Express reveals that a second expert from the panel which ruled out a link between the jab and autism holds shares in one of its manufacturers.

Professor Walter Spitzer of McGill University in Canada acted as an external expert advisor called to give evidence to the Medical Research Council working party.

But he also holds shares in GlaxoSmithKline, one of the three companies which supplies, and is facing legal action over, the vaccine.

Professor Spitzer’s involvement follows the revelation that Professor Eve Johnstone, who chaired the working party, owns shares in the company worth £10,000.

The report published last week said there was no convincing evidence to prove that an increase in the number of autistic children was connected to the three-in-one jab for mumps, measles and rubella.

Last night, Jackie Fletcher of the pressure group Jabs, said: “We need to know exactly who is on these panels and where their priorities lie.

“This could be the tip of the iceberg. How many others are there out there on Government advisory panels who have links with the pharmaceutical industry?

“I have no reason to doubt Eve Johnstone’s sincerity as an individual but in her position she has to be seen to be independent.”

Professor Johnstone’s report into the vaccine dogged by controversy was commissioned last March by the Department of Health. Campaigners claim the jab given to babies of 15 months is linked to autism and bowel disease and are planning to sue the manufacturers over the alleged side effects.

The department though, has remained sceptical about research from around the world which claimed to have proved the links.

In response, it does not allow single vaccinations, and parents who insist on them have been forced to arrange them privately.

Official figures show that just 84.2 per cent of parents are having the triple vaccination - its lowest level since being introduced ten years ago.

The latest report said autism is much more common than previously thought, affecting at least one in 166 children under the age of eight.

But the review discounted the MMR link and said doctors and parents may simply be more aware of autism.

As part of the general concern about the jab, the Tories are demanding to know whether Mr Blair is to have his 18-month-old son Leo vaccinated with it.

Last July, Dr Andrew Wakefield, the scientist who first linked autism to MMR, expressed fears about conflicts of interest in the Research Council.

David Thrower, the father of a child who became autistic after having the vaccination, said: “The blatant conflict of interest  of many of those stating there is no link between MMR and autism can only undermine public confidence.”

A spokesman for the MRC said interests of those involved in the inquiry process were declared.

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.