The controversial theory that childhood vaccines cause autism
was discredited by one report after another this year. The
biggest blow came with the public retraction of a 1998 paper in
the British medical journal The Lancet that had suggested a link
between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism in a study
of 12 children. Despite questions at the time concerning its
scientific credibility, the report garnered a blizzard of press
coverage and led some parents to put off vaccinating their young
children. In February Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said
that the work was “flawed” and should never have been published.
More reports followed. In May an expert panel at the Washington-
based Institute of Medicine announced that neither the measles-
mumps-rubella vaccine nor the mercury-based vaccine preservative
thimerosal is associated with autism. The panel based its
finding on expert testimony, published papers, and ongoing and
completed research—including epidemiological studies in the
United States, th