The scientist who found the since debunked autism-vaccination link will testify before the state legislature.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The scientist who touted a debunked autism-vaccination link will testify before the state legislature.
The Statesman Journal reports that Andrew Wakefield, who had his medical license revoked for his study, will testify regarding Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward’s bill that would prohibit parents from claiming nonmedical exemptions for their children’s immunizations.
Wakefield will appear in front of the Senate Health Care Committee on March 9 at 3 p.m.
The SJ quoted a pair of Wakefield’s supporters who said he was punished unfairly.
Dr. Diane Gudmundsen, a Hillsboro chiropractor, testified Feb. 18 that her son reacted severely to his MMR vaccine and eventually was diagnosed with autism. While she couldn’t prove the connection between the two events, she said, “As a mother, I feel that my heart knows.”
Dr. Vern Saboe, an Oregon Chiropractic Association lobbyist who testified against the bill, said he is hosting Wakefield at his home: “Sen. Steiner Hayward took it upon herself to regurgitate the same storyline that the findings of Dr. Wakefield and his coworkers had been disproved from multiple studies and that the author admits he faked all the data,” Saboe said, “which is blatantly untrue.”
In Southern Oregon’s Jackson County, more than 200 students missed the vaccination deadline last week and were told they could not attend public schools until they were up to date on their shots. They were back in school Monday.
The Mail Tribune reports:
State law requires that children attending public and private schools, preschools, Head Start or certified child care facilities provide documentation of their immunizations or exemption by the third Wednesday of February, Exclusion Day, or be sent home.
At the beginning of the month, 1,200 of the 32,989 kids currently attending a Jackson County facility that requires vaccinations had yet to provide the necessary paperwork and were notified by Jackson County Health and Human Services.
