MMR doctor given legal aid thousands Deer Grhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

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Here it is--http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2524335,00.htmlThe Sunday Times December 31, 2006MMR doctor given legal aid thousands DeerANDREW WAKEFIELD, the former surgeon whose campaign linking the MMRvaccine with autism caused a collapse in immunisation rates, was paidmore than £400,000 by lawyers trying to prove that the vaccine was unsafe.The payments, unearthed by The Sunday Times, were part of £3.4mdistributed from the legal aid fund to doctors and scientists who hadbeen recruited to support a now failed lawsuit against vaccinemanufacturers.Critics this weekend voiced amazement at the sums, which they saidcreated a clear conflict of interest and were the "financial engine"behind a worldwide alarm over the triple measles, mumps and rubella shot."These figures are astonishing," said Dr Evan , Liberal DemocratMP for Oxford West and Abingdon."This lawsuit was an industry, and an industry peddling what turnedout to be a myth."According to the figures, released under the Freedom of InformationAct, Wakefield was paid £435,643 in fees, plus £3,910 expenses.Wakefield's work for the lawyers began two years before he publishedhis now notorious report in The Lancet medical journal in February1998, proposing a link between the vaccine and autism.This suggestion, followed by a campaign led by Wakefield, causedimmunisation rates to slump from 92% to 78.9%, although they havesince partly recovered. In March this year the first British child in14 years died from measles.Later The Lancet retracted Wakefield's claim and apologised after aSunday Times investigation showed that his research had been backedwith £55,000 from lawyers, and that the children in the study used asevidence against the vaccine were also claimants in the lawsuit.At the time Wakefield denied any conflict of interest and said thatthe money went to his hospital, not to him personally. No disclosurewas made, however, of the vastly greater sums that he was receivingdirectly from the lawyers.The bulk of the amount in the new figures, released by the LegalServices Commission (LSC), covers an eight to 10-year period. Allpayments had to be approved by the courts.Those who received money include numerous Wakefield associates,business partners and employees who had acted as experts in the case.Five of his former colleagues at the Royal Free hospital, northLondon, under whose aegis The Lancet paper was written, received atotal of £183,000 in fees, according to the LSC.Wakefield now runs a business in Austin, Texas, two of whose employeesare listed as receiving a total of £112,000 in fees, while a Floridaphysician, who appointed the former surgeon as his "director ofresearch", was paid £21,600, the figures show.All have appeared in media reports as apparently confirmingWakefield's claims.It is understood that the payments — for writing reports, attendingmeetings and in some cases carrying out research — were made at hourlyrates varying between £120 and £200, or £1,000 a day."There was a huge conflict of interest," said Dr March, an animalvaccine specialist who was among those recruited. "It bothered mequite a lot because I thought, well, if I'm getting paid for doingthis, then surely it's in my interest to keep it going as long aspossible."March, who the LSC allowed almost £90,000 to research an aspect ofWakefield's theories, broke ranks this weekend to denounce both thescience of the attack and the amount that the case had cost inlawyers' and experts' fees."The ironic thing is they were always going on about how, you know,how we've hardly got any money compared with the other side, who arefunded by large pharmaceutical companies. And I'm thinking, judging bythe amounts of money you're paying out, the other side must be livinglike millionaires," he said.Also among those named as being paid from the legal aid fund was areferee for one of Wakefield's papers, who was allowed £40,000. Aprivate GP who runs a single vaccines clinic received £6,000, the LSCsays.Following The Sunday Times investigation, immunisation rates haverisen and the General Medical Council launched an inquiry. This is dueto culminate in a three-month hearing next summer, where Wakefieldfaces charges — which he denies — of dishonesty over his research.The LSC is also unlikely to escape criticism. Three years ago thecommission, which administers a £2 billion budget to give poor peopleaccess to justice, acknowledged that the attempt to make a caseagainst MMR with taxpayers' money was "not effective or appropriate".The total cost for the attack on the vaccine was £14,053,856, plus Vat.Following media campaigning, lawyers eventually registered 1,600claimants in the lawsuit. None received any money.This weekend Earl Howe, a Conservative party health spokesman, calledfor a parliamentary inquiry. "It's astonishing," he said. "This iscrying out for select committee scrutiny."Wakefield said in a statement that he had worked on the lawsuit fornine years, charged at a recommended rate, and gave money to charity."This work involved nights, weekends and much of my holidays, suchthat I saw little of my family during this time," he said. "I believedand still believe in the just cause of the matter under investigation."Document 1 | Document 2