A discredited anti-vaccine advocate who has no medical background and who has been disciplined for practicing medicine without a license will reportedly lead a questionable federal study on vaccines and autism—despite a large volume of existing research that has found no link between the two and despite a thorough debunking of claims that vaccines cause autism.
Late Tuesday, The Washington Post reported that David Geier has been hired as a "data analyst" by the Department of Health and Human Services, which is now headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent and fervent anti-vaccine advocate. Kennedy and Geier have both long touted the false claim that vaccines cause autism, despite the extensive evidence showing that they do not. In March, HHS directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reexamine the nonexistent link between vaccines and autism, using funds from taxpayers that could have been directed at other research.
David Geier earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 2002. Since then, he has largely worked with his father, Mark Geier, also an anti-vaccine advocate who falsely blames vaccines for autism. In 2011, Mark Geier was stripped of his medical license by the Maryland State Board of Physicians for misrepresenting his credentials, failing to meet state and federal regulations on safety oversight, and allegedly putting the safety and welfare of autistic children at risk.
The board found that the elder Geier "misdiagnosed autistic children with precocious puberty and other genetic abnormalities and treated them with a potent hormonal therapy ("Lupron Therapy" or "Lupron Protocol"), and in some instances chelation therapy, both of which have substantial risks of both short-term and long-term adverse side effects. [Mark Geier's] treatment exposed the children to needless risk of harm."
Lupron is a drug that suppresses sex hormones (a gonadotropin-releasing hormone [GnRH] agonist) and is used to treat prostate cancer, endometriosis, and precocious (early) puberty. It can also be used for chemical castration.
In a linked case, the state physician's board also found that David Geier, who worked closely with his father, was practicing medicine without a license. He was issued a civil fine of $10,000.