Richard Horton

Richard Charles Horton (born 29 December 1961) is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, a United Kingdom–based medical journal.

He is an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University College London, and the University of Oslo.

After studying medicine at the University of Birmingham, he joined the liver unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

In 1986 he completed his studies at the University of Birmingham, having gained a Bachelor of Science degree in physiology and a degree in medicine.

After completing his early medical training at Birmingham, he joined the liver unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

Horton defended his position by saying "I do not regret publishing the original Wakefield paper. Progress in medicine depends on the free expression of new ideas. I worked at the Royal Free from 1988 to 1990 and met him on many occasions. He is a committed, engaging, and charismatic clinician and scientist. He asks big questions about diseases - what are their ultimate causes? - and his ambition often brings quick and impressive results."

However, there are groups criticising Horton for contributing to the ongoing dramatic drop of vaccination of children in Europe and America that causes several epidemics and deaths by delaying the retraction of the paper for 12 years.

The process for retractions could take several years at the time.

In 1990, he became assistant editor of The Lancet and five years later become its editor-in-chief in the UK.

He has been a medical writer for The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Review of Books.

In 1990, he became assistant editor of The Lancet and in 1993 moved to New York as its North American editor.

Two years later he returned to the UK to become its editor-in-chief.

Horton served as a medical columnist for The Observer and has written for The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Review of Books.

On 28 February 1998 Horton published a controversial paper by Andrew Wakefield and 12 co-authors with the title "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children" suggesting that vaccines could cause autism.

The publication of the paper set off a sharp decline in vaccinations in Europe and America and in subsequent years globally.

In 2003, he published Second Opinion: Doctors, Diseases and Decisions in Modern Medicine, a book about controversies in modern medicine.

In 2003, he published his book about controversies in modern medicine, Second Opinion: Doctors, Diseases and Decisions in Modern Medicine.

In 2005 he wrote "Doctors in society: medical professionalism in a changing world", an inquiry into the future of medical professionalism, for the Royal College of Physicians.

He has served in various roles with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Richard Horton was born in London.

His early education was at Bristol Grammar School.

In 2005, as a member of a working party set up by the Royal College of Physicians, he was the chief author of their report into the future of medical professionalism, "Doctors in Society".

Horton is an advocate for the WHO.

He has co-chaired a WHO Scientific Advisory Group on Clinical trials registration, chaired the Board of the Health Metrics Network, sat on the External Reference Group for WHO's Research Strategy, and was an external advisory board member for the WHO European Region.

Horton was the first president of the World Association of Medical Editors, and was a past-president of the US Council of Science Editors (2005–06).

In the 11 May 2005 The Lancet, Horton criticized the British scientific group, the Royal Society, under Lord Rees for its neglect of medicine.

Horton published an article in 2005 supporting Professor Sir Roy Meadow who had been charged with serious professional misconduct by the GMC for giving erroneous and seriously misleading evidence in the Sally Clark trial.

In 2008, he was appointed to a research and analytical management panel as a Senior Associate of the Nuffield Trust.

In the United Kingdom, the Health Protection Agency attributed a large measles outbreak in 2008 and 2009 to a concurrent drop in the number of children receiving the MMR vaccine.

Pockets of measles – which can be fatal —have also cropped up in Canada and the United States as a result of parents' refusal to vaccinate.

Horton was heavily criticised for refusing to take action for so long.

He was finally forced to retract the paper in February 2010 after the General Medical Council (GMC), which oversees doctors in Britain, said that "there was a biased selection of patients in The Lancet paper" and that Wakefield's "conduct in this regard was dishonest and irresponsible".

According to reporter Brian Deer, who exposed Wakefield's paper as fraudulent, Horton opposed the GMC's investigation that led to the retraction, arguing:

"My own view is that the GMC is no place to continue this debate. But the process has started and it will be impossible to stop."

In 2011, he was elected to the US Institute of Medicine.

From 2011 to 2015 he co-chaired the independent Expert Review Group on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children' Health.

In 2016, he was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to an expert group advising the High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, which was co-chaired by presidents François Hollande of France and Jacob Zuma of South Africa.

In 2017, he served on the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) High-Level Working Group on the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents.

In the same year he joined Physicians for Human Rights's board.

A few days after the worldwide mobilisation promoted by the activist movement Extinction Rebellion, Horton asserted in a video that health professionals should involve themselves directly.