But subsequent studies by other researchers have failed to support Wakefield's contention, and troubling facts about his study have been brought to light by journalist Brian Deer. Two years prior to his study's publication, Wakefield was hired as a consultant by attorneys filing a suit against the MMR—a fact he failed to disclose—and some of the children in his study were litigants against the MMR manufacturers. Wakefield also was involved in a project to develop and market an alternative vaccine. Concerned about the wide-reaching effects of the study, its lack of replication, and the possible financial conflicts of interest, Royal Free Hospital, where Wakefield was the director of research and had conducted his study, asked him to do a larger study, offering to underwrite the cost. Wakefield refused, was asked to resign from his…