The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines

by Brian Deer

Overview

Investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes a conspiracy of fraud and betrayal behind attacks on a mainstay of medicine: vaccinations.

2021 IPPY Book Award Winner (Gold) in Health/Medicine/Nutrition, Recipient of the Eric Hoffer Award for Nonfiction in the Culture Category.

From San Francisco to Shanghai, from Vancouver to Venice, controversy over vaccines is erupting around the globe. Fear is spreading. Banished diseases have returned. And a militant "anti—vax" movement has surfaced to campaign against children's shots.
But why?

In The Doctor Who Fooled the World, award—winning investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes the truth behind the crisis. Writing with the page—turning tension of a detective story, he unmasks the players and unearths the facts. Where it began. Who was responsible. How they pulled it off. Who paid.

At the heart of this dark narrative is the rise of the so—called "father of the anti—vaccine movement": a British—born doctor, Andrew Wakefield. Banned from medicine, thanks to Deer's discoveries, he fled to the United States to pursue his ambitions, and now claims to be winning a "war."

In an epic investigation spread across fifteen years, Deer battles medical secrecy and insider cover—ups, smear campaigns and gagging lawsuits, to uncover rigged research and moneymaking schemes, the heartbreaking plight of families struggling with disability, and the scientific scandal of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421438009
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian Deer is a multi—award—winning investigative reporter, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine, and social issues for the Sunday Times of London. briandeer.com @deerbrian

Table of Contents

Prologue: Resurrection
Part 1. Big Ideas
1. The Guinness Moment
2. It Must Be Measles
3. Quests Collide
4. The Pilot Study
5. Child Four
6. A Moral Issue
Part 2. Secret Schemes
7. Everybody Knows
8. First Contact
9. The Deal
10. Trouble in the Labs
11. Spartanburg Science
12. Asked and Answered
13. Turn of the Century
14. On Capitol Hill
15. Letting Go
16. The Bridge
17. Unblinded
Part 3. Exposed
18. Assignment
19. Cracking the Coombe
20. The Spoiler
21. Texas
22. Nothing As It Seems
23. Sesame Street
24. Enterocolitis
25. We Can Reveal
26. Cry Smear
27. An Elaborate Fraud
Part 4. Avenged
28. Rock Bottom
29. Payback Time
30. Vaxxed
31. Wakefield's World
32. Cause and Affect
Epilogue: A Wonderful Doctor

Timeline
Note to Readers
Acknowledgments
Index

What People are Saying About This

Steve Silberman

Written with the meticulousness of a journalist determined to find out the truth and the pulse-pounding pacing of a thriller, The Doctor Who Fooled the World is a profoundly important book.

Simon Singh

An extraordinary story of medical fraud and scaremongering, told by the courageous and tenacious journalist who revealed the truth.

Peter J. Hotez

"Brian Deer is the world's foremost authority on Andrew Wakefield."

Su Laurent

As a pediatrician, I've witnessed with fury the impact that Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent science has had on the health of children. This brilliantly written book is a must read.

Ava Easton

Riveting from start to finish. Thankfully, reporters like Brian Deer exist. He is not afraid to look into the eyes of the Grim Reaper and to fight back on behalf of all of us for whom scientific rigour is so important, but also perhaps more importantly, for the families whose lives have so often been devastated by misinformation and bad science.

From the Publisher

Written with the meticulousness of a journalist determined to find out the truth and the pulse—pounding pacing of a thriller, The Doctor Who Fooled the World is a profoundly important book.
—Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

Deer's book is a compelling reminder of what great investigative journalism looks like.
—Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center, author of Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President

A magnificent book. Too few people know how greed and deceit conspired to create the myth that vaccines cause autism. Only Brian Deer can tell that whole story, because he uncovered all of its chilling twists and turns.
—Ivan Oransky, MD, President, Association of Health Care Journalists / Cofounder, Retraction Watch

As a pediatrician, I've witnessed with fury the impact that Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent science has had on the health of children. This brilliantly written book is a must read.
—Su Laurent, MD, author of Your Baby Month By Month: What to Expect from Birth to 2 Years

An extraordinary story of medical fraud and scaremongering, told by the courageous and tenacious journalist who revealed the truth.
—Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem

Riveting from start to finish. Thankfully, reporters like Brian Deer exist. He is not afraid to look into the eyes of the Grim Reaper and to fight back on behalf of all of us for whom scientific rigour is so important, but also perhaps more importantly, for the families whose lives have so often been devastated by misinformation and bad science.
—Ava Easton, Chief Executive, Encephalitis Society

Kathleen Hall Jamieson

Deer's book is a compelling reminder of what great investigative journalism looks like.

Zubin Damania

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and Deer shines some of the brightest rays yet to reveal the rotten heart of one of the greatest public health frauds in history."

David Satcher

"In this book, Brian Deer has taken on one of the most challenging issues of our time. The War on Vaccines is in many ways a life and death struggle, one which we cannot afford to lose. Deer has modelled the path for us to succeed."

Ivan Oransky

A magnificent book. Too few people know how greed and deceit conspired to create the myth that vaccines cause autism. Only Brian Deer can tell that whole story, because he uncovered all of its chilling twists and turns.

Editorial Reviews

Riveting . . . Readers who love a good debunking will find Deer's narrative logical, exciting, and enraging.
—Publishers Weekly

Seldom has any new book been more timely than The Doctor Who Fooled the World At times the book reads more like a thriller than a journalistic investigation
—The Sunday Times

At a time when the World Health Organization lists 'vaccine hesitancy' as one of the top ten threats to global health, this stunning work sounds an urgent message and demonstrates the essential role of investigative journalism in uncovering the truth.
—Foreword Reviews

Exposing researchers who lie, cheat and fake their data often requires the work of courageous whistleblowers or tenacious investigative journalists. Enter Brian Deer, an award—winning reporter for the Sunday Times of London
—The Wall Street Journal

Although many people think they know this now—infamous story, it is likely they are unaware of all its dramatic details. Curious lay readers and vaccine experts alike are sure to learn something worthwhile from Deer's well—chronicled account.
—Paul A. Offit, Science

Mind—boggling . . . Every chapter drops your jaw.
—BigThink

Riveting . . . a compelling portrait of hubris and the terrible dark shadow it can cast.
—Saad B. Omer, Nature

From the Publisher

Although many people think they know this now-infamous story, it is likely they are unaware of all its dramatic details. Curious lay readers and vaccine experts alike are sure to learn something worthwhile from Deer's well-chronicled account.

Science - Paul A. Offit

The author not only exposes major flaws in the study itself, he also describes high-pressure tactics used to recruit the young patients and the harmful, invasive procedures used to gather samples.

Eric Hoffer Award Committee

Seldom has any new book been more timely than The Doctor Who Fooled the World At times the book reads more like a thriller than a journalistic investigation

The Sunday Times

Riveting . . . a compelling portrait of hubris and the terrible dark shadow it can cast.

Nature - Saad B. Omer

Evocative . . . an incredible story.

Chemistry World

Exposing researchers who lie, cheat and fake their data often requires the work of courageous whistleblowers or tenacious investigative journalists. Enter Brian Deer, an award-winning reporter for the Sunday Times of London

The Wall Street Journal

Mind-boggling . . . Every chapter drops your jaw.

BigThink

At a time when the World Health Organization lists ‘vaccine hesitancy’ as one of the top ten threats to global health, this stunning work sounds an urgent message and demonstrates the essential role of investigative journalism in uncovering the truth.”

Foreword Reviews

Written with the meticulousness of a journalist determined to find out the truth and the pulse-pounding pacing of a thriller, The Doctor Who Fooled the World is a profoundly important book.”

New York Times bestselling author Steve Silberman