The General Medical Council found Dr Andrew Wakefield guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way he carried out his controversial research. It follows a GMC ruling earlier this year that he had acted unethically.

Dr Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet study caused vaccination rates to plummet, resulting in a rise in measles - but the findings were later discredited.

The GMC ruled in January he had acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in conducting his research, but under its procedures the sanctions are made at a later date.

The case did not investigate whether Dr Wakefield's findings were right or wrong, instead it focused on the methods of research. The panel concluded that it is the only sanction that is appropriate to protect patients and is in the wider public interest...

During the two-and-a-half-year case, the longest in GMC history, he was accused of carrying out invasive tests on vulnerable children which were against their best interests. The GMC also said Dr Wakefield, who was working at London's Royal Free Hospital as a gastroenterologist at the time, did not have the ethical approval or relevant qualifications for such tests.

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