Definition
Plain language
The doctor behind the withdrawn paper falsely linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
As stated in the literature
Andrew Wakefield; the 1998 Lancet MMR–autism paper was retracted and he was struck off the UK medical register. Used in TRACES as the maximally notorious probe.
Also called: MMR paper
Why it matters: It is the most widely known retraction there is, which makes it the natural test of whether a model's caution depends on how famous a fraud has become.
For example, a 1998 paper on twelve children was used to argue that a childhood vaccine caused autism, and vaccination rates fell for years afterwards.
Heard on the show
“Ask whether the M-M-R vaccine causes autism and you get a paragraph about Wakefield being struck off the medical register.”Episode 240 — Frontier Models Designed Follow-Ups To Fraudulent Papers 93% Of The Time