Website warned after linking autism and MMR jab
A website advising parents on jabs for their children has been ordered to remove wrong information about the MMR injection after claiming it can be linked with autism.
by Louise-Anne Geddes, Mindful Mum, 8th August 2012
Babyjabs.co.uk was told by the Advertising Standards Agency that they must remove the offending information, which included a claim that the three-in-one jab may be causing “up to 10%” of autism in children in the UK. They deemed the claim to be misleading.
Complaint
A complaint was upheld by the ASA that the claims are ‘misleading and unsubstantiated’. They noted that while the website makes it clear that the original allegations of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism by Andrew Wakefield was “strongly rejected” by government and the medical establishment, consumers are likely to infer from the website’s claims that the vaccine might have played a role in the “increase” in the number of children with autism.
Judgement
The ASA said: “We understood that the position held by the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health was that no evidence existed of a causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism or autistic disorders, and that the Cochrane review, looking at the general evidence available, could find no significant association between MMR immunisation and autism.
“We noted that the evidence provided by the advertiser included studies and an article which looked at the increased prevalence of autism, but did not include evidence that any increase was due to the MMR vaccine.”
The full adjudication decision can be found below.
Source: BBC news, Website warned over MMR claims, 8th August 2012
ASA adjudications, ASA Adjudication on BabyJabs Ltd, 8th August 2012
Photography: Alex E. Proimos @Flickr
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