The Lancet MMR-Autism Study (Wakefield, 1998)

Few studies have done more to undermine global public health than Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent 1998 paper linking the MMR vaccine to autism. Retracted by The Lancet in 2010 after an investigation uncovered data manipulation and undisclosed conflicts of interest, Wakefield was subsequently stripped of his medical license. Despite being thoroughly debunked by numerous large-scale epidemiological studies, the paper launched the modern anti-vaccine movement and continues to fuel vaccine hesitancy worldwide, with U.S. measles cases rising roughly 234% in 2019 compared to the previous year. This study remains one of the most damaging examples of scientific misconduct in modern public health.