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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This was a really interesting book and also pretty relevant. It's also kinda personal since I have autism.
It's absolutely shocking to me that for such a lie to spread it takes so many people and debunking all that takes ages. Wakefield isn't even that old yet. He could absolutely live for 20 to 30 more years.
It's absolutely shocking to me that for such a lie to spread it takes so many people and debunking all that takes ages. Wakefield isn't even that old yet. He could absolutely live for 20 to 30 more years.
Uggh, I knew Andrew Wakefield was a fake but I always thought mayyybe he genuinely believed his own nonsense - I didn't realize just how conniving, cruel and viciously greedy he was. Just the worst kind of con who has done so much damage to the world, especially to the most vulnerable people and children and without serious consequences. A really interesting and horrifying read that lays out all the stages this snakeoil salesman went through to fool everyone and line his own pockets. Blech.
Journalists like this author are the heroes we need many more of.
Journalists like this author are the heroes we need many more of.
adventurous
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A thorough, damning condemnation of Andrew Wakefield, the (rightly) disgraced former doctor who erroneously connected vaccines to autism. I knew going in that Wakefield had published bad science. However, I was not prepared to learn just how shady this man was- from performing unneeded intense medical procedures on mentally handicapped children, to backdoor monetary deals with anti-vaccine parties to ensure his findings went their way.
I liked Deer's biting tone and prose, but I occasionally struggled with the structure of the book. I think making the book a bit shorter and more organized would have gone a long way. I struggled sometimes with the jumping timelines, various studies, and countless doctors and scientists interviewed and expected to keep straight. It still was a great read and I'm flabbergasted about how one man could fool so many medical professionals and journalists.
I liked Deer's biting tone and prose, but I occasionally struggled with the structure of the book. I think making the book a bit shorter and more organized would have gone a long way. I struggled sometimes with the jumping timelines, various studies, and countless doctors and scientists interviewed and expected to keep straight. It still was a great read and I'm flabbergasted about how one man could fool so many medical professionals and journalists.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
A super informative read on the MMR scandal and the origins of the modern anti-vax movement. Brian Deer does an incredible job at breaking down his lengthy investigation of the main players and keeps the tension up throughout. My only problem (causing me to dock a half star) is the way he sometimes described the villains of the piece, which often relied on fatphobia and the whole "ugly=evil" trope, and sometimes veered into outright sexist tropes (the way he describes some of the antivax ladies as the attractive, almost "temptress", stereotype really rubbed me the wrong way in a few places, compared to how he describes women on the side of truth). But overall a really good read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma
challenging
dark
informative
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challenging
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A thorough and utterly convincing refutation of Andrew Wakefield and his claim that the MMR vaccine causes autism. I tip my hat to Sunday Times of London reporter Brian Deer for his dogged pursuit of the truth despite the attempts of Wakefield and his erstwhile colleagues to minimise and obfuscate their fraudulent “research”.