CDC Whistleblower Exposes Data Manipulation in Vaccine and Autism Study

According to a study by Focus Autism Foundation, a whistleblower revealed the manipulation of scientific data in a 2004 study on autism and age of vaccination with  the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

A research scientist working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) helped Dr. Brian Hooker of the Focus Autism Foundation uncover data manipulation by the CDC that obscured a higher incidence of autism in African-American boys who received the MMR vaccine earlier than 36 months of age.  

Hooker, a PhD in biochemical engineering, learned of the whistleblower through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for original data on the DeStefano et al. MMR and autism study published in 2004 in Pediatrics. Hooker’s study, published August 8 in the journal Translational Neurodegeneration, shows that African-American boys receiving their first MMR vaccine before 36 months of age were 3.4 times more likely to develop autism vs. those who received the vaccine after 36 months. Hooker notes that a statistically significant relationship between the age the MMR vaccine was first given and autism incidence in African-American boys has not yet been made public by CDC researchers, Focus Autism Foundation (focusautisminc.org) reports.

The whistleblower, who wishes to remain anonymous, has worked for the CDC for over a decade. He guided Hooker to evidence of a statistically significant relationship between the age the MMR vaccine was first given and autism incidence in African-American boys. Data was gathered on 2,583 children living in Atlanta, Georgia born between 1986 and 1993. But CDC researchers did not include children who did not have a State of Georgia birth certificate – reducing the study’s sample size by 41 percent. Dr. Hooker explains this sharply reduced cohort size eliminated what would have been a higher statistical finding. Hooker said he knew of no scientific basis for excluding children born outside of Georgia and “none has been provided by the authors of the DeStefano study,” according to focusautisminc.og.