Doctor faces GMC inquiry over single jabs for infants

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Row over safety of MMR vaccine set to re-ignite over case of former GP offering parents a choice in immunisation controversy

James Meikle, health correspondent
Monday August 6, 2001

A doctor who has been offering parents alternative injections to the controversial MMR vaccine for their children, has been summoned before the General Medical Council in a test case over the rights of patients and doctors.

Peter Mansfield, 58, risks suspension and, ultimately being barred from practice if the body that polices the profession says he has acted in a way that risks the safety of patients.

He has helped hundreds of families determine whether they want their children to have separate rubella, measles and mumps vaccines, instead of the combined jab. The combined MMR injection has become the routine immunisation method for infants aged between 12 and 15 months, who are then given boosters before they go to school at five years old.

The former GP faces an unprecedented investigation by the GMC, following a complaint by Worcestershire health authority, which has raised raised concerns about his twice-monthly clinics in a hired day centre, organised by a company set up by local parents.

It will re-ignite the furious row over the safety of the MMR vaccine, which some researchers allege may be linked to childhood diseases including autism and bowel disorders. But the government and the medical establishment say single vaccines against the three diseases are less safe because of the gaps between their administration which leave children vulnerable to disease for a longer period.

The measles vaccine has been withdrawn from the NHS and can only be imported on a named patient basis, something Dr Mansfield says he has been doing legally and with the Department of Health's knowledge.

However, only a few private clinics are offering the option, and the chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, says Britain's record on immunisation must not be undermined by what he calls "bad science".

Dr Mansfield is to appear before the GMC's interim orders committee which can suspend his licence to practice and impose restrictions on his work while it considers whether he should face a full disciplinary inquiry, or have his performance assessed.

He has demanded the hearing take place in public. "I think it will be a test case one way or another. If they say 'yes' [he can continue to practice], quite a lot of doctors will feel they can get involved. If they say 'no', no other doctor will want to get involved."

Dr Mansfield also offers single vaccines through the Good Healthkeeping centre in Louth, Lincolnshire, in which he is a partner. "I think parents are acting very responsibly," he said. "They have huge support and I think it would be churlish to deny them that. What is at stake is the principle of clinical independence of doctors and the right of parents and patients to be fully informed and give or withhold their consent to treatment."

He suggested medical institutions were being "unprofessional" in denying parents alternatives. "You are giving them a 'take it or leave it' situation and then herding them into taking it."

Debbie Ryding, a founder of Desumo, the company that organised the Worcester clinics, said parents attending the clinic paid £42 to register. They then paid for individual vaccines: £35 for rubella, £45 for mumps and £50 for measles. There was a six-week gap between vaccines, and some of the income helped three charities researching vaccine safety. About 600 families countrywide have registered.

Mrs Ryding said that if the authorities closed all the other doors, it would not help. "It will just antagonise them."

A spokesman for the GMC declined to discuss the case.

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