Yikes. There’s no way this guy should be practicing medicine in the UK (or anywhere else either) if he’s going around claiming the MMR vaccine causes autism.
If this is the sort of nonsense he was coming out with a few years ago, but has since stopped, I suspect he probably ended up receiving the equivalent of a cease and desist letter from the GMC and decided it wasn’t worth destroying his career over.
He’s still doing it though just not overtly if he’s flogging single jabs.
A couple of years back there was a huge outbreak of mumps at U.K. universities as the students were the cohort as the Wakefield scaremongering was at its height. It only stopped because of the pandemic. People who rely on enough other people vaccinating to provide herd immunity are putting their children’s health at risk. And the very small number of children who can’t be vaccinated. Just selfish arseholery.
He’s still doing it though just not overtly if he’s flogging single jabs.
A couple of years back there was a huge outbreak of mumps at U.K. universities as the students were the cohort as the Wakefield scaremongering was at its height. It only stopped because of the pandemic. People who rely on enough other people vaccinating to provide herd immunity are putting their children’s health at risk. And the very small number of children who can’t be vaccinated. Just selfish arseholery.
I don't think he works for Breakspear anymore - he was there before he went and started his own thing on Harley St (Sincere Health, which is now defunct). He's not on their staff page.
In fact having a look on the Breakspear page, they don't seem to be dealing in autism anymore (it's not listed on their 'conditions' page) ... so that's .... good?
He’s still doing it though just not overtly if he’s flogging single jabs.
A couple of years back there was a huge outbreak of mumps at U.K. universities as the students were the cohort as the Wakefield scaremongering was at its height. It only stopped because of the pandemic. People who rely on enough other people vaccinating to provide herd immunity are putting their children’s health at risk. And the very small number of children who can’t be vaccinated. Just selfish arseholery.
I believe that any healthcare professional who takes it upon themselves to join in with anti-vax fear mongering (or any medical treatment which we know to be safe and effective), who sets up some sort of private clinic offering to cure ‘vaccine induced injuries’ or anything like that should not be allowed to practice (or at least not be allowed to work in any publicly funded health system).
It goes against everything we’re taught and it’s so harmful, especially to people who are already prone to anti-vax views as it just reinforces them.
This bloody man! My son has ASD and all that MMR causes autism stuff was still doing the rounds around the time of his formal diagnosis in 2012.
The guilt it generated was appalling. Now and again I thought - was his autism my fault? I’ve always been in favour of vaccinations but I did have a moment or two thinking - did MMR effect him? Did I feed him the right things? Should I put him on a restricted diet? If only to help him fit in with society and not be ‘that odd boy’.
Of course, it’s all pseudo-science bollocks and I look at my boy now who’s just finished his first year at Uni and say yeah, he’s on the spectrum. He’s got his stims, his obsessive collections and social awkwardness but he’s done so well and I’m fucking proud of him!
If Jack Monroe, champion of the poors and self -diagnosed autistic is happy to be associated with this quack, she’s lower than a (buttered) snake’s belly.
Oooh I've just been delving through the Breakspear Medical Bulletin. Now I've been academia adjacent but am nowhere near medic Frau or medical adjacent but I'm a little befuddled whether this sort of flip-flopping in specialities is normal.
Here he is being introduced in the summer 2009 edition. He's been involved in international health issues and his academic interest is in the physical causes of mental illness.
In winter 2009, he was one of the few people trained in the 'Sherwood' technique for non-specific back pain - which wouldn't you know, Breakspear Hospital are one of the few to offer since Dr Sherwood retired. Which is weird, no? Given tropical medicine and physical causes of mental health and his subsequent segue into autism? (See below)
And finally, as a little treat, in summer 2010 - I love me a doctor who puts together household packs of eco toiletries and cleaning products for me for the low low price of £35.25 (£52.88 for non-members) (I think VAT was still at 17.5% then)
So yes it’s still there! I can’t see he shows how many patrons he has but that be me. I can’t see how he’s going to get many if he doesn’t link it to his name as without It, he’s just some random
I must admit I am quite impressed by the brass neck of someone saying "I didn't know how important a platform Twitter was until I joined two years ago, gimme cash to tell you how to use it"
So yes it’s still there! I can’t see he shows how many patrons he has but that be me. I can’t see how he’s going to get many if he doesn’t link it to his name as without It, he’s just some random
I must admit I am quite impressed by the brass neck of someone saying "I didn't know how important a platform Twitter was until I joined two years ago, gimme cash to tell you how to use it"
yeah he's got his patron count hidden (of course lol)
I didn't realise he had a thread. I put this on Monroe's thread too but his outrage at Michelle Mone seems very misplaced after his blind championing of Monroe despite being told many times what she was like.
Speaking of Patreon, looks like it's been shelved. Nothing added to it since June when we were last collectively mithering. I'm guessing nobody signed up. Still active though, and he's offering a 7 day free trial.
For anybody interested, Tortoise Media (podcast) did a series called ‘Dr Anti-Vax’ that did a deep dive into Andrew Wakefield (who, IIRC, Goyal has connections to from his MMR/autism days?). You can find all the episodes on Spotify.
Goyal doesn’t come up, which I was hoping for, and I doubt the series will reveal anything new to parents/professionals/autistic people who have a vested interest in this area, but it’s a good, comprehensive overview of the whole ‘debate’ for those who may not know all that much but are interested.
Also as an aside, I’ve been meaning to bring this up in the MT for a while but Tortoise Media is a strange one themselves. I really like their stuff - their ethos is all about ‘slow media’ and taking a deeper look at complex or nuanced breaking news stories. Some of it is very dry but they do a lot of human interest type stories too. On the whole I would really recommend checking them out.
Which is why I find their platforming of Jack so strange! They hosted that weird af talk she did where she hobbled onto the stage and stood up the whole time despite being minutes away from emergency knee replacement surgery. And I think they quoted her relatively recently on something too? They do seem like a media organisation who do do their due diligence/research so I can’t believe they wouldn’t have come across anything her detractors were saying.
AND, one of the best series they did was done by Julie Bindle! Three Doors Down is about a botched investigation into the abduction and murder of a seven year old girl that took 30 years and tireless campaigning from her mum to resolve.
Actually, I suppose if both Jack and JB are controversial figures then journalistically it makes sense to allow them both on - especially as neither of them were discussing anything to do with trans rights (and it’s not as if Jack is the patron saint of trans people, she’s such a hindrance to the community it actually makes little sense to cast her as an opponent of someone like JB).
Even still, Jack does stand out like a sore thumb when you look at everything else they’ve done. It’s curious and annoying because they’re the kind of organisation I’d want to see investigating her!
For anybody interested, Tortoise Media (podcast) did a series called ‘Dr Anti-Vax’ that did a deep dive into Andrew Wakefield (who, IIRC, Goyal has connections to from his MMR/autism days?). You can find all the episodes on Spotify.
Goyal doesn’t come up, which I was hoping for, and I doubt the series will reveal anything new to parents/professionals/autistic people who have a vested interest in this area, but it’s a good, comprehensive overview of the whole ‘debate’ for those who may not know all that much but are interested.
Also as an aside, I’ve been meaning to bring this up in the MT for a while but Tortoise Media is a strange one themselves. I really like their stuff - their ethos is all about ‘slow media’ and taking a deeper look at complex or nuanced breaking news stories. Some of it is very dry but they do a lot of human interest type stories too. On the whole I would really recommend checking them out.
Which is why I find their platforming of Jack so strange! They hosted that weird af talk she did where she hobbled onto the stage and stood up the whole time despite being minutes away from emergency knee replacement surgery. And I think they quoted her relatively recently on something too? They do seem like a media organisation who do do their due diligence/research so I can’t believe they wouldn’t have come across anything her detractors were saying.
AND, one of the best series they did was done by Julie Bindle! Three Doors Down is about a botched investigation into the abduction and murder of a seven year old girl that took 30 years and tireless campaigning from her mum to resolve.
Actually, I suppose if both Jack and JB are controversial figures then journalistically it makes sense to allow them both on - especially as neither of them were discussing anything to do with trans rights (and it’s not as if Jack is the patron saint of trans people, she’s such a hindrance to the community it actually makes little sense to cast her as an opponent of someone like JB).
Even still, Jack does stand out like a sore thumb when you look at everything else they’ve done. It’s curious and annoying because they’re the kind of organisation I’d want to see investigating her!
I really enjoyed that podcast series and not at all surprised Goyal is connected to Wakefield!
Like you, I also really like all of Tortoise's podcasts but would really like to see them turn their investigative gaze onto JM. I think her interview with them was more of a general chat so it's not like the wool was pulled over their eyes as such, but it would be a good angle for them to say they were mislead by her too and here's what we found etc etc.
ETA: I would also recommend Marianna in Conspiracyland on BBC Sounds. Small doses though, as it's a thoroughly distressing subject.