Brian Deer: Stomping at the Savoy

16 Responses to “Brian Deer: Stomping at the Savoy”

1. daedalus2u April 5, 2011 at 21:56 #

   Well done and well deserved.

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2. Sullivan April 5, 2011 at 23:01 #

   Congratulations Mr. Deer.

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3. Lisa R. April 5, 2011 at 23:16 #

   Congratulations to Brian!

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4. Sniffer April 5, 2011 at 23:50 #

   http://actionforautism.co.uk/2011/04/05/brian-deer-wins-award-for-mmr-reporting/

   Brian Deer wins award for MMR reporting
   Congratulations to Brian Deer for winning the award for Specialist Journalist of the Year at the British Press Awards tonight. According to the judges,

   “The winner showed outstanding perseverance, stamina and revelation on a story of major importance. It led to a tremendous righting of a wrong on MMR.”

   In Deer’s acceptance speech there was thinly veiled criticism of the journalists who gave Andrew Wakefield a free ride for so long in as well as the suggestion that, in giving him the award, the British newspaper industry was acknowledging these past mistakes and had finally got it right.

   “I’d just like to say that this award does have my name on it but in many ways I think this is an award for the industry as a whole. Because this is a story where some of us, some of my colleagues,our colleagues I think got the story wrong and became prisoners of their sources for over a long period of time. And I think this is an award for an industry that gets it right and an industry that I am very proud to be a party to.”

   This is not the first time Brian Deer has won this award. He won the same award in 1999. It is interesting, in view of attempts to smear him as hireling of the pharmaceutical industry, that the Times reported

   The judges were impressed by his investigations in the field of medicine, saying he was probably “the only journalist in Britain that polices the drugs companies.” Deer’s award wining articles in the Sunday Times Magazine, ranged from vaccine-damaged children to the hidden side effects of Viagra.

   Prior to that in 1985 he had exposed fabricated evidence for the safety of contraceptive pills by a scientist employed by German drug company, Schering AG. His investigation of The Wellcome Trust in 1994 was followed by the withdrawal in the UK of a blockbuster antibiotic, Septrin, Bactrim, and the sale of the trust’s pharmaceutical subsidiary Wellcome Foundation. And, as if to show to his critics that he had not been bought off by big pharma in order to go after Wakefield, in 2005 he was hot on the heels of MMR manufacturers Merck over deadly side effects of the drug Vioxx.

   So congratulations Brian. Hopefully you will not have to write about Wakefield and MMR again. But I am sure that there will be plenty of future wrongdoers in need of exposure to your “outstanding perseverance,stamina and revelation.”

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5. stanley seigler April 6, 2011 at 04:39 #

   [sullivan say] Congratulations Mr. Deer

   ditto…dont know mr deer but appreciated his reporting…and

   thanks to sullivan for the memories of louis armstrong and drummer danny barcelona (video)…

   hard to believe there was a time in the USA when mr armstrong couldnt get a room in most hotels when on tour…

   stanley seigler

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   • Sullivan April 6, 2011 at 05:34 #

     Stanley Seigler,

     Pops was amazing. A longer career than Miles, and he reinvented himself along the way. I was going to use Ella Fitzgerald but the YouTube videos were more slide shows.

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     • Sullivan April 6, 2011 at 05:36 #

       P.s. Thanks for not pointing out my square corners with “stomping” instead of stompin’
6. sharon April 6, 2011 at 05:03 #

   Congratulations Brian.

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7. lilandtedsmum April 6, 2011 at 07:04 #

   Congratulations to Brian Deer – very well deserved.

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8. stanley seigler April 6, 2011 at 13:37 #

   [sullivan say] I was going to use Ella Fitzgerald but the YouTube videos were more slide shows.

   maybe you will be able to use billie holiday some where, some day…especially lady d’s, “Strange Fruit”…blood on the leaves, blood at the root.

   stanley seigler

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9. E April 6, 2011 at 15:34 #

   Congratulations to Brian Deer, the award is well-deserved. But this is no time for him to stop, he should expose the various parties that made the MMR swindle possible.

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10. Moderation April 6, 2011 at 17:38 #

    Congratulations Mr. Deer. Thank you for all your hard work.

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11. MikeMa April 6, 2011 at 20:29 #

    Always happy to see hard work and effort rewarded appropriately. Well done Brian Deer.
    Cheers.

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12. McD April 6, 2011 at 23:47 #

    Congratulations Brian Deer. Fantastic to see,

    And thanks to Sniffer for a nice concise review of Brian’s other work – evidence-based reporting on the shady side of big pharma (as opposed to litigation-driven hysteria).

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13. Esattezza April 7, 2011 at 00:19 #

    Sullivan, I see you know your jazz. But can you dance to it? If so, then I vote we find some excuse to dance at IMFAR when we meet up (I’ve been dancing swing for 5 years).

    And, obviously: Kudos to Brian Deer!:

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    • Sullivan April 7, 2011 at 01:23 #

      I can’t dance, but I know of an autism researcher who worked as a jazz pianist in grad school. I wonder if his arm can be twisted into playing.

      Reply