I support Dr. Wakefield 100%, as should any other caring doctor. Our autistic kids present gastrointestinal disorders that go ignored by Mainstream Pediatricians.

We go to them and tell them our children writhe in pain, have extremely loose bowel movements up to 15 times a day and we are told, that is autism - go home a deal with it.

Comments regarding "no proof" are insulting to us parents who have seen what Dr. Wakefield has done to resolve serious ilness in kids in the U.S. The world needs more Andy Wakefields, more doctors who will not bow to pressure from those who want to this all to go away.

I suspect there are many doctors that would love to help our kids but silently say to themselves "I don't want to become another Wakefield". Because of the GMC scare tactics, our kids go without the necessary care. The GMC should be ashamed and they should be the ones on trial here.

Tim Kasemodel, Wayzata, Minnesota, USA

This case is to do with professional conduct and research ethics. We shall just have to wait and see if Wakefield is guilty of misconduct. We already know he isn't correct about the science (many subsequent studies have shown this, as well as the fact that his research co-authors have disowned his research findings).

Jordan, Manchester, UK

Doesn't this just look the the Inquistion, sorry, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?

There was also a fine piece that Robert F. Kennedy Jnr wrote for Rolling Stone in July 2005. It described a pharma conference in the the US, where the participants were not even allowed to take notes, let alone record proceedings. The sole item on the agenda was: We know that thiomersal causes autism, how do we cover this up?

Malcolm, Chicago, IL

About time that someone spoke up about the misdeeds of the pharmaceutical corporations.
Thiomersal - organic mercury used as a preservative in vaccines etc - is very toxic by inhalation, ingestion, and in contact with skin (EC hazard symbol T+), with danger of cumulative effects. It is also very toxic to aquatic organisms, and may cause long-term adverse effects in aquatic environments (EC hazard symbol N).[7] In the body, it is metabolized or degraded to ethylmercury (C2H5Hg+) and thiosalicylate which is even more toxic.
The low cost of Thiomersals use has meant that its continued inclusion is assured - no matter what the health cost !

Martin Downs, Oxford, Oxfordshire

Thank you Nigel Hawkes for your fine article.
It is a breath of fresh air when one reads a good account by a health editor. I was present at yesterdays hearing at the GMC and it was a pleasure to be supporting the good doctors Wakefield and co. It was magic meeting up with all the other parents and supporters and I believe in my heart that these brave men will be cleared of any wrong doing and hopefully the vaccine damaged children will be helped now and in the future by other doctors wanting to know the truth about un-safe vaccines.

Joan Campbell, Glasgow, Scotland

I hope that Wakefield et al's inquisitors at their hearing are aware of how time has moved on since their study of 1998, and they have been vindicated by independent research. One such study, by V.K. Singh, PhD, Research Associate Professor of Neuroimmunology in the Dept of Biology at Utah State University, as reported to the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) in Feb. 2004, discovered that (1) autistic children harbour abnormal vaccine serology (MMR antibody levels were higher in autistic children as compared to controls), and (2) there was a correlation between this vaccine serology and brain autoimmune antibodies (marked by Myelin Basic Protein (MBP) antibodies; which is a contaminant of the MMR jab from the chick embryo cells it is cultured on). His conclusion: the study "suggested a causal link of measles virus with autoimmunity in autism." Thus Wakefield et al have been supported in their findings. This should take precedence over any feeble charges about Wakefield's integrity.

Stan Stanfield, Forres, UK

I believe Dr. Wakefield to be a hero to care enough to go through all he and his family has to treat and try to protect children, we in the US are lucky to have such an ethical doctor on our side thank you Andy for all you do!

kimberly Linderman, galesburg, usa Illinois