Brian Deer

While the paper was retracted in 2010, I'm sure we're going to talk about it, Wakefield lost his medical license.

Fast forward to 2020, author Brian Deer wrote a book about Wakefield titled The Doctor Who Fooled the World.

Paul, you wrote a book review in Science Magazine titled Flawed Research and Its Enduring Repercussions.

Tell us how damaging Dr. Wakefield and that study was to the vaccine controversy today.

And as a direct result, measles, a disease that was practically eradicated in many developed nations, came roaring back, causing severe illness and death in highly vulnerable populations.

But the most insidious aspect of this entire case, which was uncovered by the relentless investigative journalism of Brian Deer, was the actual motive.

This wasn't a doctor making a tragic statistical error.

Not at all.