THE DOCTOR WHO FOOLED THE WORLD ANDREW WAKEFIELD’S WAR ON VACCINES

BRIAN DEER Scribe, 416pp, £16.99

This ‘definitive account of Andrew Wakefield’s fraudulent attempt to link the onset of autism in children with the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine could not be better timed’, argued Dominic Lawson in his Sunday Times review, since ‘the so-called anti-vaxxers are gaining ever more traction in the US, where Wakefield now lives – fêted by sundry Hollywood actors and the odd politician. Indeed, Donald Trump – before he became president – backed Wakefield’s claims (with the typically Trumpesque twist that he himself had discovered the alleged connection between autism and the vaccine).’

Wakefield was struck off by the GMC ten years ago, largely as a result of Deer’s investigative journalism for the Sunday Times, but is otherwise unscathed and also now a wealthy man as a result of his cult status in the US. Deer shows that ‘Wakefield had been privately proposing to the Royal Free schemes based on his research in which he would be “suitably incentivised by the allocation of equity”. This aspect of the affair is especially pungent, given that Wakefield’s supporters contrast his self-proclaimed morality-driven approach with the financial motivations of “big pharma”.’

In the Times, David Aaronovitch felt that ‘what should amaze the reader of Deer’s book... is the weakness, venality, vanity and slowness to action of the medical establishment and its publications and institutions in the face of a rogue doctor. Most of the things that Deer did should have been done by the profession itself. Had he not so assiduously turned every one of Wakefield’s stones over, the man would probably still be licensed to practise here.’