Vaccine-Autism Hoax: The Origin Story

In 1998, a now-infamous paper by Andrew Wakefield claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Though the study was quickly debunked and later retracted, the damage had already been done. In this episode, we unpack how one fraudulent claim helped spark a modern anti-vaccine movement, leading to a resurgence of preventable diseases and a deepening distrust in public health.This is not intended to be medical advice, and the content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of their employers or funders.