Royal Free: protocol pro-forma describes research on kids that started MMR scare

This page is research from an investigation by Brian Deer for The Sunday Times of London and the UK's Channel 4 Television into a campaign linking the MMR children's vaccine with autism. | Go to part I: The Lancet scandal | Go to part II: The Wakefield factor

According to research by Andrew Wakefield and others in the Lancet on February 28 1998, invasive research on autistic children was authorised by the ethics committee of the Royal Free hospital, where the MMR scare was launched. The Lancet paper explictly stated: "Investigations were approved by the Ethical Practices Committee of the Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust"

But was the study described in the Lancet even submitted to the committee? A comparison table between what was proposed and what was published can be viewed at this website. And the official protocol pro-forma document, below, which complements the full protocol, sets out a study concerning MR vaccine and disintegrative disorder, not MMR and autism. This pro-forma, approved by Professor Roy Pounder, also asks how the research will be funded. The answer doesn't mention Wakefield's contract with lawyers