Autism, Vaccines, and the Search for Truth
IMA Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Marik welcomes Dr. Andrew Wakefield for a timely conversation about his early research, the backlash that followed, and his transition to award-winning filmmaker.
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Speakers: Dr. Paul Marik, Dr. Andrew Wakefield
Dr. Andy Wakefield has spent decades at the center of one of the most controversial topics in modern medicine: vaccines and their potential link to autism. This week, IMA Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Paul Marik welcomes Dr. Wakefield for a timely conversation about his early research, the backlash that followed, and how his voice continues to resonate in today’s medical climate. They’ll also explore Protocol 7, Wakefield’s new award-winning film that marks his transition from researcher to filmmaker.
Dr. Andy Wakefield has long been one of the most controversial figures in modern medicine. A former gastrointestinal surgeon, Dr. Wakefield became globally known after publishing a 1998 paper in The Lancet describing a striking pattern observed in a small group of children: gastrointestinal symptoms and developmental regression appearing after MMR vaccination.
More than 25 years later, that conversation is far from over.
“I really—it’s a delight and an honor and a privilege. And probably this is the most important webinar we’ve ever done—with Dr. Wakefield. And it doesn’t come at a more opportune time.” — Dr. Paul Marik
Why now? Because for the first time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has committed to conducting placebo-controlled trials on childhood vaccines, a longstanding demand among vaccine safety advocates. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to release a vaccinated vs. unvaccinated outcomes study using internal CDC data—potentially as soon as September.
Dr. Wakefield never left this issue behind—but the public is only now beginning to understand its magnitude. With autism rates higher than ever and chronic disease on the rise, questions once ignored are gaining new urgency.
The Research That Started It All
In the late 1990s, Dr. Wakefield was part of a research team at the Royal Free Hospital in London that evaluated twelve children with a unique clinical profile. Each had experienced sudden developmental regression—often diagnosed as autism—shortly after receiving the MMR vaccine. Upon further examination, the children also presented with intestinal inflammation.
The team published their findings in The Lancet in 1998. The paper noted a temporal association between vaccination, gastrointestinal inflammation, and regression—but it explicitly did not claim causation. It urged further investigation into the observed pattern.
Still, the implications were clear. The idea that a routine childhood vaccine could be linked to a biological cascade ending in neurological damage threatened both pharmaceutical interests and public health dogma. The establishment response was swift: Dr. Wakefield was discredited, struck off the medical register, and publicly labeled a fraud.
“Dr. Wakefield was, I think, a pioneer… He was really the first person [brave enough] to publish this data. And obviously he got into trouble… So for his brilliant work, he lost his license, he lost his country, he lost his reputation. He was accused of scientific misconduct, of scientific fraud. And his reputation still, in many circles, has been severely diminished.” — Dr. Paul Marik
What Dr. Wakefield exposed wasn’t a final answer—it was an open question. But in medicine today, some questions still aren’t allowed.
The Autism Surge: A Crisis We Can’t Ignore
According to CDC data, autism diagnoses have soared from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 31 in 2022. In states with more refined tracking like New Jersey and California, the rates are even higher. And for boys, the rates are often steeper still.
Public health officials often attribute the increase to better diagnostic tools or increased awareness. But Dr. Marik rejected that explanation as a politically convenient myth, citing both the unchanged diagnostic criteria and the rising burden on families and schools.
“We really do have a pandemic of autism. And many people may question this—but this graph tells the story, and we’ll discuss it with Andy. And this data is from the CDC. So it’s very difficult to question this. They may say that it’s due to improvement in diagnostic techniques. That is not true. The same techniques that are used to diagnose autism have been used for the last 20 years.” — Dr. Paul Marik
The rising numbers aren’t theoretical. For affected families, this is a life-altering, often lifelong, reality.
Evidence, Suppression, and Scientific Double Standards
Despite repeated declarations that vaccines and autism are entirely unrelated, Dr. Marik pointed to over 20 published, peer-reviewed studies suggesting various forms of association. From animal models and epidemiological data to biological plausibility, the picture is far from settled.
What happens to those studies? Often, they’re buried. When they survive peer review, they’re discredited or retracted. When they raise serious concerns, they are dismissed by institutions that claim to represent science itself.
Dr. Marik called this suppression part of a now-familiar “disinformation playbook”—a system first developed by the tobacco industry: conduct fake science, harass dissenters, buy credibility, and manipulate governments.
It’s a pattern the pharmaceutical industry, he said, has perfected.
Download Dr. Marik’s Presentation Slides
It’s Not Just MMR—It’s the Entire Schedule
Dr. Wakefield’s view has expanded far beyond the MMR vaccine. What began as a narrow investigation into one triple-shot has evolved into a broader concern about cumulative exposure to immune-disrupting ingredients—especially aluminum and mercury.
Today’s vaccine schedule, he argued, is so overloaded and complex that it makes rigorous scientific evaluation nearly impossible.
“Children are getting loaded with doses of these things far in excess of the EPA guidelines—or at least were, in the case of mercury, until it was withdrawn. So it was a highly complex situation, and we were trying to unpick it as we came to understand it.” — Dr. Andy Wakefield
Without proper placebo-controlled trials or combination safety studies, both doctors questioned the claim that the schedule is “safe and effective.” Neither asserted all vaccines cause harm. But they warned that for vulnerable children, the risks may be far greater than public health agencies admit.
The Fight for Data and Accountability
If any progress has been made, it’s not thanks to the institutions—but despite them.
Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Marik discussed the significance of RFK Jr.’s pledge to release long-suppressed CDC data comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. The analysis is expected to show disparities in chronic illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, and immune dysfunction—data that has never before been made public at this scale.
The stakes, Dr. Wakefield said, could not be higher. The system is already in defensive posture, with entrenched bureaucrats and scientists whose careers rest on denying any link.
“He promises answers as early as September. I think that’s a little ambitious—but let’s see. Depends how much resistance he meets within his own infrastructure, within the CDC itself. And believe me, there are many, many people who have staked their entire life’s work, their reputations, on Kennedy being wrong… And there will be… considerable obstruction, considerable pushback, and every attempt possible to manipulate the data.” — Dr. Andy Wakefield
This is not a scientific debate—it’s a firewall. The only question is whether the public will see what’s on the other side.
Trust, Consent, and the Right to Say No
In one of the most direct exchanges of the webinar, both doctors underscored a principle that has been eroded in modern medicine: the right to informed refusal.
Dr. Wakefield emphasized that no vaccine should ever be mandated—particularly when public officials hide risks, manipulate data, or use fear to coerce decisions. This is not merely about science, he said, but about medical ethics and human dignity.
“You cannot force vaccinations. You should never force any medical procedure on anyone under any circumstances… This information needs to be given impartially and let them make the decision. But do not terrify them, do not frighten them into doing it by misrepresenting the data and telling them there’s no link with autism and this kind of thing.” — Dr. Andy Wakefield
When asked directly what he would do today if he were a parent of a newborn, Dr. Wakefield didn’t hesitate:
“If I were a father today—if I had a child today—would I vaccinate them? No, I would not.” — Dr. Andy Wakefield
A Growing Movement, A Narrow Window
This conversation was more than a scientific discussion—it was a moment of alignment between past warnings and a present reckoning. And it came just days after the release of the second issue of the Journal of Independent Medicine, which continues to showcase research censored or ignored by conventional outlets.
As Dr. Marik noted, this is not just about vaccines. It’s about the survival of independent, fair, and open scientific inquiry. It’s about families, and the moral obligation to get honest answers—before another generation is harmed.
RFK Jr.’s promised CDC data may not come without a fight. But if it comes, it may offer something many parents have never had: evidence to make an informed choice.
That choice matters now more than ever.
I can’t wait to watch this!
What an incredible and brilliant man!
My own story in discovering how my daughter developed autism.
I became awakened to the Covid scam when I realised in April 2020 that mandated vaccines for all was the goal and that through them, people would die.
My Doctor administered the wrong vaccine (the MMR) to my daughter when she was eight weeks old. Her date of birth is 02/09/2004
At that time, my daughter had a severe anaphylactic reaction which prompted the doctor into telling me that she gave my daughter the wrong vaccine, but said it would do her no harm.
I believed and trusted the doctor.
Throughout her growing years, my daughter suffered chronic vomiting and diaorrea and had many developmental delays. With no help or information from my doctor, I finally sought an Autism assessment in early 2019, which is when the penny dropped for me and I then began my research on vaccines. My daughter was diagnosed with Autism in October 2020.
In May 2021, I wrote to my doctor looking for an exemption letter from the Covid jab for my daughter.
After no reply, I went looking to the HSE for my daughter’s vaccine records. I received them in November 2021 and discovered they were falsified.
I complained to HSE and in receiving no response, I then went to see a solicitor in January 2022.
In February 2022, he began, under freedom of information to request all of my daughter’s medical records from our doctor.
We finally received my daughter’s medical records in December 2024, nearly three years later of requests, where it clearly shows the error.
I then realised that I had never been fully informed of the contents or the risks of a wrong vaccine being given to my 8 week old baby. The doctor never fully examined my baby for injury or investigated the potential consequences of her error. The doctor kept the information from the HSE and further vaccinated my daughter with the full childhood schedule, even though it was obvious that my daughter was suffering chronic gastrointestinal distress, sinusitis, and developmental delays.
My daughter’s psychological reports have been assessed by an Epidemiologist and he confirmed that the early administration of the MMR outside the licensing agreement was the cause of my daughter’s Autism.
The consequences of that vaccine were so hard for my daughter, myself, my husband and other two kids. She was ill so much of her childhood and the social challenges and loneliness she endured was very hard.
With the information that I learned from all the good people on independent media, I started her on natural health in 2020 and saw immediate improvement in her sinuses and gastrointestinal issues and we work with a good psychologist to help my daughter with her cognitive and social challenges.
It’s really sad seeing the many children damaged in Ireland by vaccines. Parents are unsuspecting as to the real cause. They are so tired from the worry and in helping their damaged children, that they have no energy to investigate.
Dr. Wakefield is a hero. He handled that whole ordeal with such class. Instead of fighting back against the lies he focused his attention to the families with children who were vaccine injured and helped them. There is actually a pub med article that shows when this “scare” happened, injection rates fell and you know what else fell in those years? You guessed it Autism.