After moving from London to the US, following the 1998 hullabaloo surrounding the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, Dr. Andrew Wakefield has successfully set up a non-profit autism centre – ‘Thoughtful House’ - in Austin, Texas.

In 1998, Wakefield and his colleagues had published a research in the illustrious medical journal ‘The Lancet,’ suggesting that the MMR vaccine was probably linked to autism and bowel disease. Though Wakefield’s team had based the study after observing only 12 children, the findings affected millions of parents who virtually shunned the MMR vaccine for their children.

Recommending that the vaccines should be administered separately, with some time intervals between them, Wakefield added: “For the vast majority of children the MMR vaccine is fine, but I believe there are sufficient anxieties for a case to be made to administer the three vaccinations separately. I do not think that the long-term safety trials of MMR are sufficient for giving the three vaccines together.”

However, as of now, though Wakefield’s research paper has been clearly discredited; he is still continuing his controversial study. Despite the fact that he is not licensed medical practitioner in the US and he cannot treat patients, Wakefield, 52, has reiterated his commitment to work for children with developmental disorders and their families, saying that his charity is “dedicated to the recovery of these children.”