Lawyers' newsletter sets it all out over MMR cooperation with Dr Andrew Wakefield

This page is research from an investigation by Brian Deer for the UK's Channel 4 Television and The Sunday Times of London into a campaign linking the MMR children's vaccine with autism. | Go to part I: The Lancet scandal | Go to part II: The Wakefield factor

The newsletter below was issued by lawyer Richard Barr, then of the firm Dawbarns, in May 1997: ten months before the MMR scare took off with a press conference. This is a key text for grasping the relationship between the Royal Free and a lawsuit against MMR manufacturers being run by Barr. Perhaps the most informative line is on page 6: "If the MMR vaccines are withdrawn, then that of course will be a great leap forward for the cases." In February 1998, that call went out from Andrew Wakefield