Experts hope MMR dispute has ended

Doctors and the Department of Health believe public confidence in the MMR vaccine may finally be "turning a corner" after the key proponent of the controversy failed to provide any proof that the jab is linked to autism.

Dr Andrew Wakefield, the researcher who first raised concerns about MMR, yesterday launched a highly personal attack on his former colleague Dr Simon Murch, who said on Friday that he now believed the jab was safe.

The dispute marks a spectacular falling-out for the two, who collaborated on the original 1998 study which suggested the vaccine could trigger autism and bowel disorders.

A Department of Health source said: "We view the fact that Dr Murch has concluded that MMR is safe, and has spoken out on the issue, as very significant. He was one of the people who collaborated in the original study, and he is now saying that there is no evidence of a link with autism."

Dr Wakefield accused Dr Murch of being "pressured" into writing a letter in support of MMR to the respected medical journal The Lancet.

According to Dr Wakefield, his former colleague was threatened with blocked promotion and having his research funding withdrawn unless he wrote the letter. Dr Wakefield said that government health experts had "compelling evidence" that MMR was linked to autism, and said research backing the vaccine was "flawed".

But Dr Murch said that a huge volume of scientific studies had convinced him that the vaccine is safe and vehemently denied that he had been bullied into writing his letter to The Lancet. He said: "My motivation in commenting on this issue now is, as I have explained elsewhere, in the hope of restoring the uptake of MMR vaccination in order to avoid a measles epidemic."

Dr Wakefield's tirade also prompted the Royal Free Hospital to issue a statement defending Dr Murch.

A spokeswoman said: "The medical school regards the comments by Dr Andrew Wakefield and others concerning pressure on Dr Simon Murch to comment on MMR in The Lancet as simply absurd.

"The school believes that Dr Murch's rejection of any association between MMR and autism is his considered professional judgement as a paediatrician and a researcher."

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the head of science and ethics at the British Medical Association, said: "I think this could be a turning point for MMR uptake ... Parents may not trust the Government but they may trust in the opinion of a researcher like Simon Murch.

"Scientists have a responsibility to justify and back up their claims with rigorous research, and I think people will begin to accept the weight of scientific evidence is on the side of MMR."