What are the effects of the retracted autism study?

Dr. Andrew Wakefield
In this file photo, British doctor Andrew Wakefield arrives at the General Medical Council in London to face a disciplinary panel investigating allegations of serious professional misconduct on Monday, Monday, July 16, 2007.
AP Photo/Sang Tan

The doctor behind a controversial study which linked the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine to autism has been called "a dishonest, irresponsible doctor" by the General Medical Council, a British review board, and journal that originally published the study in 1998 has now retracted it.

The editor of Lancet told the Guardian newspaper that the statements in Dr. Andrew Wakefield's paper were "utterly false," and that he now feels deceived.

The study caused widespread concern and fear in parents, and led to an increase of unvaccinated children, and an up-tick of measles.

MPR's regular medical analyst Dr. Jon Hallberg talked with All Things Considered about this rare move and its practical effects in the clinic.

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