Seven months later the British Medical Journal (or BMJ) carried a 19-page, 24,000-word article on the Wakefield affair written by Deer. It had taken half a year to write and to check.
Towards the end of the process, Deer recalls, the journal’s editor said to him of the piece: “It’s fraud, you need to say that clearly.” To which Deer (who had already done this in The Sunday Times) replied: “Well, if you think that, it’s you who should say it.”
This moment encapsulated a feeling of anger that had been rising in me as the story unfolded. I knew that the journalistic trade had, with some big exceptions, done its readers little service during the MMR scare. I also realised that the judiciary, relying on solid evidence, had behaved significantly better, here and in the US.
Yet 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. Had he not so assiduously turned over every one of Wakefield’s stones, the man would probably still be licensed to practise here.
