A journal retracts an article but they can't change minds back that easily

This week The Lancet formally retracted an article published in 1998 that suggested a link between vaccinations and autism. The article has been highly publicized and had cast doubt about the safety of vaccines among many parents. The ideas in this article and subsequent research have circulated for 10 years and it will likely take more than a retraction in a British medical journal to retract the idea in the minds of many parents and many in the public. A New York Times article suggests the retraction may be little to change skeptics minds at all.

It is like the old story often used in Sunday School lessons about gossip. The setting sometimes changes, but at the crux of the lesson a minister and the town gossip go to the top of the church steeple and the minister cuts open a down pillow and scatters the feathers to the wind. He then asks the town gossip to gather every one of the feathers. It is, of course, impossible. Once the words are out there, they cannot be gathered back.

Research is about innovation. And innovative ideas are often put in the public before they are fully understood. I don't think this should stop us from exploring innovative research. But all of us who do research must realize the power of our words. Once we put the words out there, it is nearly impossible to take them back.