Offit has frequently accused Wakefield of being conflicted during his MMR research, claiming that Wakefield was being paid by a law firm for his expertise on MMR while also conducting his studies. Although physicians are frequently paid for their medical expertise in legal cases, Wakefield fully disclosed his relationship with the litigators in various UK media stories and publicly reported documents. Offit, however, has continued to back MMR as completely safe while failing to inform the public that the MMR manufacturer Merck has made him so wealthy he said "it was just like winning the lottery." As a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, Offit also voted to include the rotavirus vaccine in the Vaccines for Children program, which ultimately made his Rotateq product worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Merck.

"Offit has zero credibility in matters of vaccine safety," said Wendy Fournier, President of the NAA. "Not only does he advance the absurd suggestion that children could safety get 100,000 vaccines at a time, he opposes any studies of the comparative health of unvaccinated children that could shed light on the extent and nature of vaccine-caused injuries, leading to their prevention.

Beyond Offit's financial conflicts, autism advocates are also dismayed about the physician's credibility on speaking about autism in general, as he does not treat patients with autism. "It's a mystery how such an inexperienced and financially conflicted man has become the go-to guy for information on autism," commented Ms. Fournier. "Here's a man with no real knowledge about autism that again and again appears in media coverage. Not only is he completely unqualified to address autism from a medical standpoint, his financial conflicts of interest disqualify him as a credible source for vaccine safety commentary as well."

Source: nationalautism