Wakefield Charges Read at GMC Hearing

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 16th Jul 2007

Dr Evan Harris, Liberal Democrat MP and medical ethics campaigner who attended the first day of the GMC hearing investigating allegations against Andrew Wakefield and Professor Walker-Smith this morning to hear the list of charges against them, said:

"This litany of charges, relating almost entirely to the alleged inappropriate treatment and over-investigation of a group of vulnerable children without any semblance of ethical approval, demonstrates just how serious this issue is without even considering the serious allegations on non-disclosure of interests to the Lancet and other authorities."

"This demonstrates that this case is not about autism or MMR or Dr Wakefield's flawed theories linking the two but about how we protect children, and other vulnerable research subjects, from unethical, clinical and research conduct."