A British medical journal’s retraction of a 12 year old study that had linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism is being formally welcomed by local medical experts and blasted by vaccine skeptics.

The study assertion, since widely discredited, caused one of the biggest medical rows in a generation and resulted in a significant drop in the number of vaccinations in the United States, Britain and other parts of Europe, prompting a rise in cases of measles.

The retraction came after a disciplinary panel of Britain’s General Medical Council that Dr. Andrew Wakefield had shown a “callous disregard” for the 12 children used in his study and had reflected false information.

"It has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield are incorrect," the internationally renowned scientific journal said in a statement.

Adam Finn, professor of pediatrics at Bristol University, welcomed the Lancet's move; however, he said it had been too long coming.
The recent data released last February for England and Wales reported a surge in measles cases of above 70 percent in 2008 from the previous year, majorly due to unvaccinated children.

The GMC is currently considering whether Wakefield is the real culprit behind serious professional misconduct, which could lead to him being struck off Britain's medical register.