Brian
Deer: the
Wakefield factor
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| Materials
from a documentary
investigation by Brian
Deer
for the UK's Channel 4
Television exposing the
bizarre true story of
British gut surgeon Andrew
Wakefield and
his strange crusade
against a children's
vaccine |
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| Click here
for a narrative:
In February 1998, the Lancet medical
journal triggered a global alarm with
research proposing a link between the
measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism.
The researchers' leader, Andrew
Wakefield called for the vaccine
to be "suspended".
Brian Deer investigated for The Sunday
Times of London and exposed one of
medicine's darkest scandals |
Wakefield's
patents: Nine
months before Andrew Wakefield and
London's Royal Free hospital medical
school unleashed a global scare over the
MMR vaccine, they filed, on June
5 1997, the first of a string of
patent claims for theoretically vastly
profitable products
which could only succeed if MMR's
reputation was damaged. These included a
purported safer measles
vaccine - a potential competitor
- and treatments for bowel
disease and autism. All were based on
claims that measles virus in MMR was at
fault
A cure for
autism? According
to Wakefield, measles virus in MMR shots
attacked the gut, which in turn led to brain
damage. This theory led the
Royal Free to make the astounding claim
that an anti-measles treatment would
reverse the problem, possibly allowing
autistic children to be cured
by their products. The same technology
was intended to produce a
"safer" measles vaccine,
presumably for parents shunning MMR
No good
cause:
Wakefield's call for
single shots dropped "out of the
blue" |
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| Brian
Deer:
The Dispatches and Sunday
Times investigator on the
trail of the British
doctor who proposed an
MMR-autism link |
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| Prof
Hugh Fudenberg:
This grandfather of the
MMR scare sold autism
cures from his
Spartanburg kitchen, and
inspired Wakefield |
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Recipe for
madness?:
Wakefield's claims for a measles vaccine,
and treatments for bowel disease and
autism, were bizarre. The technology
involved is of so-called "transfer
factors", a now largely
abandoned fringe conjecture based on a
theory that special substances can be
harvested from white blood cells. The
Royal Free's recipe advised injecting
mice with measles, extracting and
processing white cells, injecting the
result into pregnant goats,
milking them after kid-birth and turning
the product into capsules
A price on
misery: With
medicine and science offering little
comfort, a knot of quacks
have moved into the field of autism,
marketing unproven or worthless products
to desperate parents. So-called
"transfer factors" have been
among the most enduring. When Brian Deer
quizzed a vendor at an October 2004 Autistic
Society of America meeting,
partly funded by quacks, society
officials called security guards and had
him ejected
Guilt
tripped: How
Wakefield's scare caused mothers to
blame themselves |
| Wakefield
filed for patent on own single measles
vaccine months before launching onslaught
on MMR |
In the
Royal Free lab: Even
as the MMR scare was launched in February
1998, Wakefield knew that his own lab had
rebutted his core
theory: that measles virus caused bowel
disease and autism. The work was carried
out by Nick Chadwick
(right), who used sophisticated PCR
technology to look for measles virus in
patients - including children whose cases
were used by Wakefield to start the
vaccine alarm. Until Deer's
investigation, these remarkable results
were unknown to the public - but now
raise troubling questions
Methods
agreed: Prior to
his work looking for (and failing to
detect any) measles virus in autistic
children whose cases were used to start
the MMR scare, Nick
Chadwick had published a series of
scientific papers with Wakefield,
department chief Prof Roy Pounder, and
(right) Greenwich university's Prof Ian
Bruce. These set out the agreed
RT-PCR molecular methodology for
detecting measles virus in gut and blood
samples.
Carol the
crank: Sick
emailer Carol Stott is censured by
professional body
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| Dr
Nick Chadwick:
His research, in
Wakefield's own Royal
Free medical school
laboratory rebutted the
measles virus theory |
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| Prof
Ian Bruce:
As a senior molecular
biologist, he supervised
Chadwick's research and
also expressed concerns
to Brian Deer |
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Paper
retracted:
Unhappy that his own laboratory had rebutted
his MMR-autism theory, Wakefield told
Chadwick to send his samples from
autistic kids to physician Dr Hisashi
Kawashima in Tokyo, with
whom Wakefield published a paper claiming
to have found vaccine-strain measles
virus. But after Chadwick gave a
statement, reporting contamination
in Kawashima's lab [as would be alleged
later in John O'Leary's], Wakefield
formally withdrew reliance on the
much-quoted paper - leaving more anti-MMR
"science" in ruins
MMR
doctor's "no comment":
In response to letters from Twenty Twenty
Television, asking to discuss specific
issues, Andrew Wakefield responded
through solicitors, ignoring every
matter. Instead, he launched an attack on
Brian Deer. In a letter
to Channel 4 Television, Dr Wakefield's
lawyers claimed that Deer's reports were
"in most cases demonstrably false,
highly opinionated and clearly defamatory
of Mr Wakefield."
Cash in
hand: Mr
Wakefield buys blood at a kids' birthday
party [audio] |
O'Leary
jumps ship:
For years, Andrew Wakefield's major ally
was said to be Dr John O'Leary of the
Coombe Women's Hospital, Dublin, who at a
cost of £800,000 to the British taxpayer
said he found evidence of measles virus
infection in gut and blood samples
supplied by Wakefield. But as clouds
gathered over O'Leary's work, he denounced his old ally. The
Sunday Times, March 7 2004
Data
challenged:
In an astounding development, the High
Court in London made a special request
under EU law to force John O'Leary to
hand over all raw data from his tests,
following claims that some did not tally
with critical expert reports submitted
for the MMR litigation. Through lawyers,
he strenuously denied any problems at his
hospital laboratory. The Sunday
Times, April 25 2004
Measles
not found in tests:
In a bid to evaluate Andrew Wakefield's
core theory that measles virus causes
autism, government laboratories tested
blood from autistic children, using
methods which included a reconstruction
of O'Leary's work - even using the same
make of equipment. Early reports said
they found no evidence to support the
theory. The Sunday Times, March 6
2005
Thoughtful
House: Since
the Royal Free ejected him in October
2001, Andrew Wakefield
first re-emerged as "research
director" of the self-styled International
Child Development Resource Center, in Florida,
which sells expensive products
for autism, including enzymes and purported "genetic
tests". He was then
installed at Thoughtful House in Austin, Texas,
earning $280,000 a year |
| Viewers
reactions and reviews of programme
highlight power and public interest of
MMR investigation |
Critic's
choice: Reviews
of the investigation MMR: What They
Didn't Tell You were led by Nancy
Banks-Smith of The Guardian,
who, praising the programme, dubbed Brian
Deer "Detective of the week... like
a bull pup with a taste for
trousers." Too bloody right!
BMJ review:
"One of the most exciting examples
of investigative television journalism
you will ever see," said Dr Abi
Berger in the British Medical
Journal's review. The Observer also praised,
saying that participants "made
mincemeat" of Wakefield research
Sense: The
UK charity for deaf-blind
children affected by
maternal rubella, issued a statement of
support for the Dispatches programme,
stressing the risks of shunning MMR.
Sense said that "the shaky
basis" of Wakefield's claims were
"now all too evident"
Visitors'
feedback:
Mail to this website has overwhelmingly
supported the MMR documentary, laced with
a hard-core of opposition to the
television investigation. Includes some
new scientific info, and features a discourteous
countess with her knickers in a
twist |
| Wakefield
emerges at United States business,
earning $280,000 a year while campaigning
over shots |
Cue Andy [wmv movie]: Including a
staged camera move to a stethoscope,
Wakefield is interviewed for the Fox
Houston affiliate, commenting on February
2009 federal judgments in which his
attack on MMR was defeated, and questions
about his integrity raised. But, having
quit clinical medicine as a trainee
surgeon in the 1980s, Wakefield has never
had legal care of a patient, and has no
license to practise medicine in
the United States. Parents:
has he examined your child, or
given you medical advice? Contact us
Thoughtful
House: Since
the Royal Free ejected him in October
2001, Andrew Wakefield
first re-emerged as "research
director" of the self-styled International
Child Development Resource Center, in Florida,
which sells expensive products
for autism, including enzymes and purported "genetic
tests". He was then
installed at Thoughtful House in Austin, Texas,
earning $280,000 a year |
| GMC
inquiry:
After Brian Deer's Sunday Times
and Dispatches reports, the UK
General Medical Council, the
doctors' regulatory body,
announced an inquiry, in the form
of a fitness to practise hearing
of charges against
Wakefield and two others of
serious professional misconduct.
The hearing, which drew on the
GMC's reinvestigation of Deer's
research findings, convened in
July 2007. The Sunday
Times, December 12 2004 |
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Lawsuit
withdrawn:
Following the Dispatches
programme, Wakefield launched a
meritless libel action,
funded by the Medical Protection
Society, against Channel 4 and
Brian Deer. In a move criticised by a High
Court judge, Wakefield then
tried, but failed, to have the
proceedings frozen. Two years
later, following the disclosure
of substantial
payments to Wakefield, he
dropped his claim, and paid Deer
compensation |
Contact
Brian at this link: Visitors
often offer vital information for
this and other investigations.
Please feel free to email
Brian Deer with your
suggestions, comments and ideas.
If you plan to quote from this
site, please acknowledge, and
check the copyright
notice. Links to this
site are appreciated, and may
further an issue of great public
importance: the safety of
children by vaccination
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| MMR: What
they didn't tell you -
Brian Deer's Channel 4
Television Dispatches
investigation |
MMR:
What they didn't tell you
sprang from a
Channel 4 suggestion that
Brian Deer should attempt
a television programme,
after his news investigation
into the MMR controversy
for The Sunday Times
attracted widespread
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interest.
His reports of February
2004 were followed by the
retraction of claims,
made in the Lancet six
years previously, linking
the MMR vaccine with
autism. Production
started on 12 July 2004,
and continued until the
programme's first |
transmission,
on November 18 2004. MMR:
What they didn't tell you,
an investigation by Brian
Deer. Producer/director, Tim
Carter;
associate producer, Hugo
Godwin;
executive producer, Claudia
Milne. |
Much
of the programme was
filmed by David
Barker, with Greg
Bailey, sound.
Brian Deer's meeting with
Dr Andrew Wakefield in
Indianapolis was filmed
by Iki Ahmed
Contact
Brian |
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Andrew
Wakefield's single
vaccine plan
"The present
invention relates to a
new vaccine for the
elimination of MMR and
measles virus and to a
pharmaceutical or
therapeutic composition
for the treatment of IBD
(Inflammatory Bowel
Disease); particularly
for Crohn's Disease and
Ulcerative Colitis and
regressive behavioural
disease (RBD).
"In my earlier
Patent Application No. WO
96/30544 I have described
how persistent measles
virus infection whether
of a wild type or vaccine
mediated is the origin of
some forms of IBD... At
present vaccination is
used for the prophylactic
prevention of measles
virus and as a public
health measure has proved
to be generally
effective. Infants are
injected with an
attenuated virus often
within the first year of
life and lately a booster
vaccination schedule has
been introduced to all
school children
approaching primary
school age.
"Unfortunately as I
have shown previously in
the above mentioned
patent application the
use of the vaccine has
been shown to be
instrumental in the
development of Crohn's
Disease and other forms
of IBD over the ensuing
30 to 40 years and
particularly has been
instrumental in a
substantial increase in
Crohn's Disease in
children since
vaccination was started
in 1968.
"The Physician is
therefore confronted with
a difficulty at the
individual level in that
whereas as a public
health measure measles
vaccination is called
for, it can have unwanted
effects in those subjects
who are unable to
immunologically eliminate
the virus so
introduced...
"What is needed
therefore is a safer
vaccine which does not
give rise to these
problems, and a treatment
for those with existing
IBD. I have now
discovered a combined
vaccine/therapeutic agent
which is not only most
probably safer to
administer to neonates
and others by way of
vaccination, but which
also can be used to treat
IBD whether as a complete
cure or to alleviate
symptoms...
"The compositions of
the present inventions
have the ability not only
to condition the
recipient to raise a
specific immune response
to MMR and measles virus
when used as a vaccine,
but also to reestablish
the appropriate antiviral
immune response of an
immune system to
persistent measles virus
infection in IBD...
"The compositions
may be particularly
adapted for use as a
vaccine or for use as a
therapy for IBD or RBD...
The compositions may be
adapted for subcutaneous,
intra muscular or
intravenous injection or
for administration by the
oral route, by
suppository or by
incorporation into
administrable liposomes.
Claims: 1. A
pharmaceutical
composition for the
treatment of an MMR virus
mediated disease
comprising a soluble
dialysed leucocyte
extract comprising a
transfer factor (TF)
formed by the dialysis of
virus-specific
lymphocytes to a
molecular weight cut-off
of 12,500 disposed in a
pharmaceutically
acceptable carrier or
dilutant therefor. 2. A
composition according to
Claim 1 adapted for use
as a vaccine for the
prophylaxis of measles
virus. 3. A composition
according to Claim 1
adapted for use as a
therapy for IBD and/or
RBD..."
UK patent application
number 9711663.6, 6th
June 1997. [Extracts: see
document]
Wakefield
denies plan for measles
vaccine
"The claim appears
to be that, whilst at the
Royal Free Hospital, I
was developing a new
vaccine to compete with
MMR and that I conspired
to undermine confidence
in MMR vaccine in order
to promote this new
vaccine, and that this
represented a conflict of
interest. This is untrue.
The facts are that: no
vaccine or anything
resembling a vaccine was
ever designed, developed
or tested by me or by any
of my colleagues at the
Royal Free Hospital; it
has never been my aim or
intention to design,
produce or promote a
vaccine to compete with
MMR ...
"The reference to
the possible use of TF to
protect children against
measles infection –
the thrust of the Sunday
Times’ conspiracy
theory – was put in
as an afterthought in the
patent."
Andrew Wakefield,
statement on worldwide
web, November 2004.
[Extracts: see
document]
Wakefield
asserts he gave money
away
"I worked extremely
hard on this very onerous
litigation because I
believed and still
believe in the just cause
of the matter under
investigation... The
money that I received
was, after tax and out of
pocket expenses, donated
to an initiative to
create a new center, in
the first instance at the
Royal Free Hospital, for
the care of autistic
children and those with
bowel disease. This was
unsuccesful at the Royal
Free but ultimately
succeeded in the US. This
intention was made clear,
in writing, to senior
members of the medical
school."
Andrew Wakefield,
email
concerning expert fees,
22 December 2006.
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