This is the gut-wrenching story of how a mid-level research doctor ruined millions of lives. By fabricating data, manipulating samples, preying on the fears of mothers, lying to the press, and making himself filthy rich in the process. His name is Andrew Wakefield, and he's the reason why the single most common Google search containing the word vaccine in the last 16 years is the question, do vaccines cause autism? Much of this series will be pulled from Brian Deere's brilliantly researched book, The Doctor Who Fooled the World. So if he'd rather read, then listen to me talk, go get it. But first, this is why you should care. Why that tired vaccines cause autism belief thoroughly debunked years ago has nonetheless sculpted the world in which we currently live. Pre-COVID, the only people who regularly thought about vaccines were parents, doctors, and maybe travelers, and a small but highly vocal minority that have been fooled into believing that vaccines had harmed their children. This group was outspoken, but their cries mostly fell on indifferent ears. A wave of fear crashed over the world. Vaccines went from something that you had as a baby and then forgot to something that today could save your life or the life of someone who loved. And so the beast smelled blood. Those who knew little met those who knew lies. Science meant fear, but science takes time. Fear is fast and full of folly. Data is dense. Headlines hazardous. Who needs fact-checking when you have a share button? In the last 10 months, vaccine hesitancy has cost more than 200,000 lives in the U.S. alone. Many have left orphans. But the blame doesn't really lie with the hesitant. Or even to most of those spreading what to them might seem like genuine concerns backed by science and doctors. Instead, most of the blame can be traced back to one man, referred to by Brian Deere as the Doctor Without Patience. Andrew Wakefield. In this series, we'll go over how, from the very beginning, every single layer of the Antivax edifice that he built was based on bad science, lies, and greed. Buckle in, you might get angry.
Additional notes
I first recorded this 7-part series back in 2022, but never ended up finishing editing the landscape-oriented YT video. It’s sad that this has once again become extremely relevant, as certain individuals featuring very prominently in today’s new cycle are some of the most prominent propagators of this myth. They often couch their statements in qualifiers like “oh i’m not ANTI vaccinations, I just think that they all need more testing to show that they don’t cause autism.” But the ENTIRE REASON why those two concepts are even linked has no foundation in legitimate science, so any statements that give the link any level of credence by someone in a clear position to know better should be taken as an IMMEDIATE RED FLAG 🚩 I’ll be uploading this entire series today, and hopefully get the longer YT vid up this week. Much of the original legwork for this series was done by Brian Deer for his book "The Doctor Who Fooled the World,” but I went back and read each of his cited sources, all of the research papers, more from my own research, and even the court proceedings where Wakefield’s medical license was revoked. #vaccines #autism #science #learnontiktok #whofides #edutok
References
- Source named in caption: Brian Deer, The Doctor Who Fooled the World. No direct DOI, PMID, or source URL was listed in the workbook row.
- Source category named in caption: court proceedings where Andrew Wakefield's medical license was revoked. No direct source URL was listed in the workbook row.