Brian Deer



Brian Deer is an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times best known for his work on investigating issues around the MMR/autism controversy, specifically related to the work of the now-discredited doctor Andrew Wakefield. Deer's investigation into Wakefield was instrumental in getting the UK's General Medical Council to launch a formal inquiry into Wakefield, leading to them striking Wakefield from the medical register.

Deer's investigations revealed that Wakefield's research that led to the original paper in The Lancet was funded by the Legal Aid Board as part of a civil suit and that a number of the children he studied were litigants in said suit.

A 2004 television documentary led to Wakefield suing Deer for libel in the UK, which he later dropped. Articles Deer wrote for the BMJ in 2011 led to Wakefield suing him for libel in Texas in 2012. The judge dismissed this suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Deer has also investigated other medical controversies including (rofecoxib).