@O_G I would agree with you that we should not discourage Whistleblowers, and the NHS for example have been grossly authoritarian, using gagging clauses to stifle such people.
Not sure we could ever conclude Wakefield was a whistleblower though.
Whilst a GE researcher at the Royal Free, he was approached by Richard Barr, a lawyer seeking to put a case together to launch a class action in the USA to present a case against the vaccine manufacturers.
It was Richard Barr who brought the children to Wakefield, and Wakefield was paid handsomely for his efforts - 450K. His did not seek ethical approval for his case study, and performed invasive investigations on the children brought to him.
Wakefield had a potential financial interest in discrediting the MMR vaccine; He had patented a measles vaccine of his own.
Wakefield might present himself as a kind of maverick researcher, bravely standing up to an uncaring establishment - and his supporters do the same, asserting conspiracy and more - but the evidence does not support that conclusion.This is the same conclusion that the GMC arrived at, when they struck him off the register.
I would urge everyone interested to read Brian Deers work on this.
http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm