Doctor who did autism research in Austin sues medical journal, writers

A British doctor who was stripped of his medical license in the U.K. in 2010 and who was accused in a journal last year of publishing bogus research filed a defamation suit this week in state District Court in Travis County.

Andrew Wakefield, who lives in Austin and founded an autism center that was on Bee Cave Road, is suing the British Medical Journal; its editor, Dr. Fiona Godlee; and investigative journalist Brian Deer — all based in the United Kingdom. His suit concerns a Jan. 5, 2011, journal article by Deer and an accompanying editorial by Godlee that called Wakefield's research on autism and a novel bowel disease fraudulent.

"The Defamatory Statements were and are false and written and published with actual malice and intended to cause damage to Dr. Wakefield's reputation and to permanently impair his reputation and livelihood," says the suit, filed Tuesday. It seeks unspecified damages.

The journal issued a statement saying that it stood by the writings and would "defend the claim vigorously." Wakefield, who is seeking a jury trial, has a "history of pursuing unfounded litigation, (so) any action brought against the BMJ and Mr Deer in London would have been immediately vulnerable to being struck out as an abuse of process," an email from the journal says. Wakefield referred questions to his lawyer, William Parrish, who did not return calls Friday.

In a paper that appeared in the Lancet in 1998 and ultimately was retracted by the editors 12 years later, Wakefield suggested a link between a new kind of autism-bowel disease and the childhood measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. The Lancet paper, and Wakefield's subsequent comments about it, set off a worldwide scare over the vaccine, known as MMR.

Deer wrote in his article, "Secrets of the MMR Scare: How the Case Against the MMR Vaccine Was Fixed," that Wakefield doctored his research to fit his theory , behaved dishonestly and was out to make money, including by participating in a lawsuit against the makers of MMR.

Wakefield, who has been a hero to some parents of autistic children , has denied those claims. He has continued to stand behind the Lancet paper even after his co-authors disavowed it. The General Medical Council, which polices doctors in the U.K. and revoked Wakefield's license, said in 2010 that he was guilty of serious professional misconduct and was dishonest and irresponsible in the research he performed in 1998.

Wakefield said after Deer's articles last year that he did nothing wrong or unethical.

"My goal has always been and will remain the health and safety of children," he said.

He wrote a book, "Callous Disregard," to present his evidence and vowed last year to continue his research into autism in Austin, working with pediatric gastroenterologist Arthur Krigsman at Krigsman's clinic on Cameron Road.

Krigsman and Wakefield resigned from the Thoughtful House Center for Children in 2010. Krigsman's office declined to say whether Wakefield is still a collaborator. He "only comes in once or twice a month," an office representative said. Wakefield told The Dallas Morning News last year that he planned to open a residential program for autistic adults.

The Thoughtful House has moved to 1700 Rio Grande St. and changed its name to the Johnson Center for Child Health and Development.

maroser@statesman.com; 445-3619