andrew wakefield, who published the 1998 study, denies the allegations and says his study is not a lie. now, last year, the lancet took the unusual step and retracted dr. wakefield's study. also last year, dr. wakefield was stripped of his license to practice medicine in england. sydnie. >> and this one report led a wave of parents to not vaccinate their kids so what was the fallout? >> reporter: huge. here in california personal beliefs exemptions, when a parents opts out of getting their schoolchildren vaccinated, these exemptions doubled after the study. in some bay area schools 30 to 60% of students are not vaccinated. >> what's the impact of having so many kids unvaccinated? >> reporter: certainly that puts kids who have not been vaccinated at risk but it puts even kids that are vaccinated at risk. vaccines are not 100% effective . your kid might still get sick from a child who wasn't vaccinated. public health experts say it may take decades to overcome what's been done by this study. >> dr. kim, thanks. >>> in oakland, police are searching for two people hiding out in a richmond

it's hard to overstate the impact this man had, dr. andrew wakefield. his small study in 1998, set off a global public health scare, changing the way that so many parents make decisions about the health of their kids. now, it appears that his study, the one that sparked this whole, emotional controversy, may have consisted of outright fabrications. this morning, in many families across america, this news is being greeted with anger. >> we're still in shock. >> reporter: in 1998, dr. andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, claimed a link between the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine and autism. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: but now, a prominent medical journal says dr. wakefield's study was an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield was a moral crime, if not an actual crime. >> reporter: investigative reporter, brian deer, debunked wakefield's study showing eight children developed autistic symptoms, within, on average, a week after receiving the measles, mumps, rubella shot. by cross-referen

andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, released a study of 12 children, eight of whom, according to their parents, started displaying "behavioral symptoms" in an average "6.3 days" after being vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: the doctor set off a global firestorm. for some parents of autistic children, it is now an article of faith, that vaccines are the reason their children cannot function normally in the world. but today, a prominent medical journal said the doctor's study was, in fact, an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime, if not an actual crime. >> reporter: working for the british medical journal, investigative reporter brian deer compared the actual medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wakefield, and he says he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the report, some of the children dr. wakefield claimed had autism were, in fact, perfectly healthy. and some of the children he claimed got sick after being vaccinat

andrew wakefield's original study has made the fear of vaccines an issue for every family medical practice in this country. >> it's remarkable how much damage one man can do. >> reporter: i confronted wakefield with these charges. these charges that are a big deal in the world of science, the most damning evidence of all that perhaps these numbers, the dates were all fabricated to sort of make a case. did you have some sort of pre- conceived notion of a link between the vaccine m.m.r. and autism before you conducted this study? >> absolutely not. dr. gupta, please, i urge you, go and read my book. you will understand it. many people don't. the parents understand it, they get it because they've lived it, okay? and the claims to whether the vaccine caused their children harm or not came from the parents, not me. i didn't have a pre-conceived notion about this at all. >> reporter: not only did wakefield's paper give birth to an anti-vaccine movement, it scared parents into skipping or delaying vaccines. >> four children died from measles, three died in ireland, one died in england. died from

wakefield is here to answer the charge but first, dr. richard besser has the backstory. >> reporter: if 1998, british researcher andrew wakefield authored a paper linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. >> the work certainly raises a question mark. over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: one small study ignites a huge public health scare and an even bigger vaccine movement. fears over autism gripped parents and some started to refuse life-saving vaccines for kids. >> what's happened, children have suffered, been hospitalized and have died because of the false notion that vaccines cause autism. >> reporter: two weeks ago, the prestigious british medical journal reported that wakefield's study was an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime, if not an actual crime. >> reporter: reporter brian deer debunked wakefield's study. by impairing the original medical records to the study data, he found much of the science was falsified. but even before this report, wakefield had been stripped of his medical lice

andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, released a study of 12 children, eight of whom, according to their parents, started displaying behavioral symptoms in an average of 6.3 days after being vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: dr. wakefield set off a global firestorm. for some parents of autistic children it is now an article of faith that vaccines are the reason their children cannot function normally in the world. but a prominent medical journal said dr. wakefield's study was, in fact, an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime. if not an actual crime. >> reporter: working for the british medical journal, investigative reporter brian deere compared the actual medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wakefield. and he says he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the report, some of the children dr. wakefield claimed had autism were in fact perfectly healthy. and some of the children he claimed got sick after being vaccinated we

andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, released a study of 12 children. eight of whom, according to their parents, started displaying behavioral symptoms in an average of 6.3 days after being vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: the doctor set off a global firestorm. for some parents of autistic children, it is now an article of faith, that vaccines are the reason their children cannot function normally in the world. but a prominent medical journal said the doctor's study was, in fact, an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime, if not an actual crime. >> reporter: working for "the british medical journal," investigative reporter brian deer compared the actual medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wakefield. and he says he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the report, some of the children dr. wakefield claimed had autism were, in fact, perfectly healthy. and some of the children he claimed got sick a

andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researchers released a study of 12 children eight of whom who started displaying symptoms after being measleson nighted from and pumps and rubella. dr. wickfield set up a firestorm. it is now an article of fate that vaccines are the reason that children cannot function normally in the world. today, a prominent medical journal says the study was in fact an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime if not an actual crime. >> working for the british medical journal, investigative reporter brian deer compared the actual medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wake field and he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the reports, some of the children the doctor claimed had autism were in fact perfectly healthy and some that he claimed were six after being vaccinated were in fact sick before they got the vaccine. i think his motive was money. >> he was paid around $750,000 for his research by lawyers who were trying to sue themakers of the measles vaccine. tonight, many in the medical c

andrew wakefield on several occasion, he has been defiant on every occasion saying he absolutely is being vilified here. now, he has released a new statement saying there was absolutely no fraud. in the absence of adequate data on vaccine safety they can continue to go after the man. what government and pharma fear in the uk is the exposure that the uk government intestimoninified the manufacturer and don't understand why i won't just go away. there is just too much at stake, end quote. >> what is at stake is his medical license, which he lost in england. he does not have the a medical license in the united states. and he has lost his job in the united states. the indemnification of a government to this pharmaceutical company is important for people to understand because there are so many bogus lawsuits that -- we were on the verge in the world of not having any pharmaceutical companies making any vaccines, so the government stepped in to thankfully save a vaccine supply line. >> so real quickly, when he stays in the absence of adequate data on vaccine safety, you completely disagree with

. >> reporter: the doctor, andrew wakefield, defended himself today in an interview with cbs5. >> did you have some sort of prepre conceived notion? >> absolutely not. dr. gupta, go and read my book. parents understand it. they have lived it. the claim to whether the vaccine caused the child harm or not came from the parents not me. i didn't have a pre conceived notion about this all at. >> as they watched their one allotted program of the day, she toll us she is a firm believer in vaccines and she hopes today's new information may change some people's minds. >> it would be great to think something as simple as that. but all of these subsequent studies that have looked at vaccines and any potential causes have really come up with no link. >> last year wakefield lost his license to practice in britain. some autism activists say that wakefield has beenus fie-- has been crucifyied. >> one bay area doctor we talked with called this criminal and begs the question how the study could have even happened. >> you have to understand in medical research we don't go back and double check somebody

named andrew wakefield published findings that linked vaccines to autism. as a result, many parents decided not to vaccinate their children. but now, the british medical journal accuses dr. wakefield of not just being wrong, but having falsified his data for financial game. the doctor has not replied to the charges, but if he did make up his research, do you think he should face criminal or even civil charges? we've heard from many of you on facebook and twitter tonight, but please join the conversation and tell us what you think at the "nightline" facebook page or on the "nightline" page at abc news.com. and finally tonight, a look ahead to tomorrow. more than 500,000 children in adolescents in america are being given anti-si sigpsychotic drug. medicating a 3-year-old may sound extreme, we met a family who said they don't believe they have any choice. meet cole. for this little boy, what you're seeing is not just a mow men tear tantrum, but the still of every day life. >> that hurt. >> stupid and i hate your camera. >> reporter: his parents say cole actual

now the research conducted by andrew wakefield fraud by leading roche medical journal. it also claims he was paid nearly $700,000 by lawyers looking to file suit against vaccine makers. >> all the way through we see him chiselling the data falsifying medical histories of children and essentially concocting a pitcher that he was contracted to find by lawyers hoping to sue vaccine may fractures. >> last year the journal bridge league published the study retract it, wakefield his attending a conference in jamaica defended his research cnn wednesday. >> it's an attempt to crush any investigation into a valid safety. >> despite being stripped of his medical license in britain he says he will continue his work. >> i'm not in the doorway, the children are real, the people of this meeting notice to ignore real, they're growing in number. >> measles cases in britain and the u.s. run up after vaccination rates dropped. >> a commission charged with studying the oil spill is spreading the blame, the national commission on the b p d porter horizon spell release a charter of a new re