https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/char ... 00169e2a53
Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off the medical register for research falsely showing that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism, used a transatlantic network of charities and non-profit organisations to pay himself a six-figure salary and fund investigations into his discredited theory.
The payments in some years constituted the vast majority of the money raised by the charities and were made despite the fact that he founded, or was a director of, the organisations.
The revelations come as part of an investigation by the Channel 4 Dispatches programme and The Times into the accounts of organisations run by Mr Wakefield.
After his fraudulent 1998 research, which caused a fall in vaccinations, Mr Wakefield moved to the US. Even though he is not able to practice as a doctor he has gained prominent support and met Donald Trump, who has expressed sympathy with the idea that vaccines cause autism. In a video recorded after Mr Trumps victory, Mr Wakefield said: Im so so pleased . . . we all know where he is on vaccines. He said I know it happens, I know vaccines cause autism.
Viewers of his Autism Media Channel were able to see his large Texan house with a balcony and infinity swimming pool in the background.
Accounts starting in the early 2000s reveal that his activities have been supported by a web of organisations that transferred money to him, to his associates and between each other.
Payments include more than $400,000 in salary from Thoughtful House, a charity set up by Mr Wakefield; $317,000 in salary from Strategic Autism Initiative, which was also set up by Mr Wakefield; and more than £300,000 on salaries and expenses for him and a colleague from Visceral, a UK charity that employed him as an adviser.
In all cases this accounted for a majority, or significant proportion, of the funds disbursed by the organisations...
...Although vaccine rates in the UK have returned to the levels seen before Mr Wakefields research doctors remain concerned that his ideas could have a resurgence.
US health authorities are battling a measles outbreak among immigrants in Minnesota that has been directly blamed on Mr Wakefield. He has also directed a film, called Vaxxed, that accuses the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of covering up a link between vaccines and autism.
