Name J. Classen | ||
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John Barthelow Classen is an American immunologist and anti-vaccinationist. He received his M.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore in 1988, his M.B.A. from Columbia University in 1992 and obtained his medical license in October 1997. He is best known for publishing research concluding that vaccines, in particular the Hib vaccine, cause insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, a hypothesis he proposed based on experiments he conducted on mice in 1996. His views are disputed and considered unverified.
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Anti-vaccination views
Classen proposes that vaccines cause diabetes by causing the release of interferons, causing an autoimmune state leading to immune-mediated type 1 diabetes, and he is quoted on many anti-vaccine websites, such as that of the National Vaccine Information Center. His work has been criticized by some, such as Amy Wallace, who wrote that the vaccine-diabetes link "...relies on the flawed work of one doctor [Classen], who gathered data on a slew of vaccines and failed to follow standard study protocols. No other study — including those using the same data — could reproduce the results." Studies that have investigated the potential link between vaccines and diabetes include one, published by Frank DeStefano, which "did not find an increased risk of type 1 diabetes associated with any of the routinely recommended childhood vaccines." DeStefano et al. also noted that another study of over 100,000 children examined the potential connection between Hib vaccines and diabetes and found no association between the two. Similarly, the Australian National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance examined Classen's studies and wrote that "Other researchers who have studied the issue have not verified Dr Classen’s findings."
The American Council on Science and Health's Gilbert Ross has said the following of Classen's claims of a link between vaccines, autism, and immune-related diseases:
"These assertions have absolutely no basis in scientific fact. The link between vaccines and autism has been debunked multiple times since it was first proposed by Wakefield, and the bottom line is that there was never any link between vaccines and autism. We urge the public to stop listening to the ideas promoted by the anti-vaccine movement and do what is best for public health, which is to get vaccinated."
Patents
Classen holds a number of patents, specifically regarding "the act of reading the published scientific literature and using it to create vaccination schedules that minimize immune disorders," and has sued four biotechnology companies over allegedly infringing on them. While a district court had found that Classen's idea was too abstract to be patented, he appealed the case and the appeals court found otherwise.