Royal Free: Brent Taylor "had concerns" over ethics of tests on autistic kids

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

On February 28 1998, the Lancet medical journal published research on autistic children carried out by Andrew Wakefield and other doctors at the Royal Free hospital, London. One of Brian Deer's discoveries was that this research - which involved invasive investigations including lumbar punctures, colonoscopies and MRI scans - had not been approved by the hospital's ethics committee. Despite being set out in a research protocol and consent, Wakefield claimed that these tests were purely for diagnosis and treatment

However, these procedures caused concern at the hospital. The protocol was challenged at the ethics committee in 1996. And in 1998 - soon after a letter of inquiry was received by the Royal Free medical school from Professor Sir David Hull - Brent Taylor, professor of child health and a longstanding Wakefield critic, sent the letter below