Mark Geier
{{Short description|De-licensed American physician (1948-2025) stripped of his medical license}}
{{Split|date=April 2025|David Geier|discuss=Talk:Mark Geier#Split proposed}}{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mark Geier
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|year=1948|month=5|day=3}}
| birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|03|20|1948|05|03}}
| death_place = Jupiter, Florida, U.S.
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| citizenship = American
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| alma_mater = George Washington University
| thesis_title = The effect of prokaryotic genes in eukaryotes
| thesis_url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/23875205
| thesis_year = 1973
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| children = David A. Geier
}}
Mark Robin Geier (1948 – March 20, 2025) was an American de-licensed physician and controversial professional witness who testified in more than 90 cases regarding allegations of injury or illness caused by vaccines.{{cite news |work= New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/25/science/25autism.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |date=2005-06-25 |title= On autism's cause, it's parents vs. research |vauthors=Harris G, O'Connor A |access-date=2008-06-26}} By 2013, Geier's medical license had been suspended or revoked in every state in which he was licensed over concerns about his autism treatments and his misrepresentation of his credentials to the Maryland Board of Health, to which he falsely claimed to be a board-certified geneticist and epidemiologist.{{citation|url=https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/Orders/D2425004.271.PDF|title=Order for Summary Suspension of License to Practice Medicine|publisher=Maryland State Board of Physicians|access-date=4 May 2011}}
Geier and his son David Geier are frequently cited by proponents of the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism. Geier's credibility as an expert witness has been questioned in 10 court cases.{{cite web|url=http://www.casewatch.net/civil/geier.shtml|title=Dr. Mark Geier Severely Criticized|date=11 July 2012|access-date=18 November 2016}} In 2003, a judge ruled that Geier presented himself as an expert witness in "areas for which he has no training, expertise and experience". In other cases in which Geier has testified, judges have labeled his testimony "intellectually dishonest", "not reliable" and "wholly unqualified". Another judge wrote that Geier "may be clever, but he is not credible".{{cite news | title = Critics balk at doctor-son team's claims of autism solution | work = Arizona Daily Star | publisher = McClatchy Newspapers | date = May 21, 2009 | access-date = November 19, 2009 | url = http://azstarnet.com/news/national/article_a10cefb4-1503-5c6b-93c4-899b8de6171b.html}}
Geier's scientific work has also been criticized; when the Institute of Medicine reviewed vaccine safety in 2004, it dismissed Geier's work as seriously flawed, "uninterpretable", and marred by incorrect use of scientific terms. In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics criticized one of Geier's studies, which claimed a link between vaccines and autism, as containing "numerous conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements".{{cite web |url=http://aap.org/profed/thimaut-may03.htm |title= Study fails to show a connection between thimerosal and autism. |author=American Academy of Pediatrics |date=2003-05-16 |access-date=2010-08-05 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030604060812/http://aap.org/profed/thimaut-may03.htm |archive-date = 2003-06-04}} In January 2007, a paper by the Geiers was retracted by the journal Autoimmunity Reviews. New Scientist reported that the supposed institutional review board (IRB) that Geier claimed approved his experiments with autistic children was located at Geier's business address and included Geier, his son David and wife, a business partner of Geier's, and a plaintiff's lawyer involved in vaccine litigation.{{cite news | work = New Scientist | date = June 21, 2007 | access-date = November 19, 2009 | first = Jim | last = Giles | url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426094.200-us-vaccines-on-trial-over-link-to-autism.html?page=1 | title = US vaccines on trial over link to autism}} The Maryland State Board of Physicians referred to it as a "sham IRB" that did not meet the requirements of state or federal law.
Career
Geier worked at the Laboratory of General and Comparative Biochemistry, National Institutes of Health in the 1970s and 1980s as a student researcher (1969–1970), research geneticist (1971–1973), staff fellow (1973–1974), on the professional staff (1974–1978), and as a guest worker (1980–1982). He then examined vaccine safety issues, with scientists, scientific institutions, and judges criticizing this body of work as "tainted by faulty methodology".
At the time of his death he was a self-employed geneticist and along with his son David, he operated several organizations from his private address in Maryland, including the Institute for Chronic Illness and the Genetic Centers of America.{{cite journal |journal=BMJ |year=2007 |volume=334 |issue=7595 |pages=666–7 |author= Deer B |title= Autism research: What makes an expert? |doi=10.1136/bmj.39146.498785.BE |pmid=17395945 |url= |pmc=1839225}} As a professional witness he testified in more than 90 vaccine cases, in support of the view that there is a clear link between thiomersal and autism. His credibility as an expert witness was criticized during many proceedings before the Special Masters.{{cite web|title=Is Mark Geier finished as an expert witness in the vaccine court?|url=https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2011/12/10/is-mark-geier-finished-as-an-expert-witness-in-the-vaccine-court/|website=Left Brain Right Brain|access-date=24 January 2018|date=December 10, 2011}} In a 2010 decision, the presiding legal authority wrote, "In summary, I conclude that all of the Geier epidemiologic studies are not reliable, and cannot be accorded any weight."{{Cite web|url=http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/Hastings.King%20Decision.pdf|title=King vs. Secretary of Health and Human Services|website=US Court of Federal Claims}}
Controversies
Mark and David Geier published several speculative articles about a possible link between autism spectrum disorders and vaccines that contain thimerosal, generating some controversy.{{cite news |work=Slate |date=2007-05-28 |access-date=2008-01-30 |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2166939/ |title= Thiomersal on trial: the theory that vaccines cause autism goes to court |author= Allen A}} The American Academy of Pediatrics dispute the conclusion of the Geiers' paper claiming a correlation between thimerosal and autism, and criticized it for "numerous conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements".
=Limited access to Vaccine Safety Datalink records=
The Geiers were granted access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink records,{{cite web |last1=Santoli |first1=Jeanne |title=CDC Warning Letter re: Dr. Mark Geier |url=https://quackwatch.org/cases/fdawarning/rsch/geier/ |website=Quackwatch |access-date=28 March 2025 |date=13 February 2004}} but the National Immunization Program found that "during the first visit the researchers conducted unapproved analysis on their datasets and on the second visit attempted to carry out unapproved analyses but did not complete this attempt. This analysis, had it been completed, could have increased the risk of a confidentiality breach. Before leaving, the researchers renamed files for removal which were not allowed to be removed. Had it gone undetected, this would have constituted a breach of the rules about confidentiality."
=Lupron=
The Geiers developed a protocol for treating autism that uses the drug Lupron, which acts as chemical castration. Mark Geier has called Lupron "the miracle drug" and the Geiers have marketed the protocol across the U.S.{{cite news |author= Tsouderos T |title= 'Miracle drug' called junk science |work= Chicago Tribune |date=2009-05-24 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/05/21/miracle-drug-called-junk-science-2/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250326193624/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/05/21/miracle-drug-called-junk-science-2/ |access-date=2025-04-26|archive-date= 26 March 2025 }} The Geiers filed three U.S. patent applications on the use of Lupron in combination with chelation therapy as a treatment protocol for autism based on the hypothesis that "testosterone mercury" along with low levels of glutathione blocks the conversion of DHEA to DHEA-S and therefore raises androgens which in turn further lower glutathione levels, ultimately providing a connection between autism, mercury exposure, and hyperandrogenism, specifically precocious puberty."[https://archive.today/20120707104501/http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=geier.IN.&s2=autism.AB.&OS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism&RS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism Methods of treating autism and autism spectrum disorders]" US Patent application 20070254314, November 1, 2007"[http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=geier.IN.&s2=autism.AB.&OS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism&RS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism Methods for screening, studying and treating disorders with a component of mercurial toxicity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413093200/http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=2&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=geier.IN.&s2=autism.AB.&OS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism&RS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism |date=2015-04-13 }}" US Patent application20060058271, March 16, 2006"[http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=geier.IN.&s2=autism.AB.&OS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism&RS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism Methods of treating disorders having a component of mercury toxicity ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413093150/http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=3&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=geier.IN.&s2=autism.AB.&OS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism&RS=IN/geier+AND+ABST/autism |date=2015-04-13 }}" US Patent application 20060058241, March 16, 2006
According to expert pediatric endocrinologists, the Lupron protocol for autism is supported only by junk science. The reaction of mercury and testosterone which the therapy is intended to treat is actually based on a protocol used to create testosterone crystals for use in X-ray crystallography rather than a physiological process that occurs in the human body.{{cite book|last=Offit|first=Paul A.|author-link=Paul Offit |title=Autism's False Prophets |url=https://archive.org/details/autismsfalseprop00offi|url-access=registration|date=2008|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780231146364}} p. 41 Although Abbott Laboratories sells Lupron in the U.S. and cooperated with the Geiers in one of the patent applications, it is no longer pursuing work with them, citing the nonexistence of scientific evidence to justify further research.{{cite news |title= Physician team's crusade shows cracks |vauthors=Mills S, Jones T |work= Chicago Tribune |date=2009-05-21 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-autism-lupron-geiers-may21,0,983359.story |access-date=2009-05-21}}
When treating an autistic child, the Geiers order several dozen lab tests, costing $12,000: if at least one testosterone-related result is abnormal, the Geiers consider Lupron treatments, using 10 times the daily dose ordinarily used to treat precocious puberty. The therapy costs approximately $5,000 per month. The Geiers recommend starting treatment on children as young as possible, and say that some need treatment through adulthood.
=Expert witness testimony=
Geier has testified as an expert witness in Federal Court,United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle in James E. Franics, Plaintiff, v. Maersk Lines, Limited, et al., Defendants (Case No. C03-2898C) and has been accepted as an expert witness in approximately 100 hearings for parents seeking compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for alleged vaccine injuries to their children. In 10 of these cases, "Dr. Geier's opinion testimony has either been excluded or accorded little or no weight based upon a determination that he was testifying beyond his expertise.""[http://www.ncmd.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Jul06/03cv669op.pdf John and Jane Doe v. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306022517/http://www.ncmd.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Jul06/03cv669op.pdf |date=2008-03-06 }}", US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, July 6, 2006"[http://www.casewatch.net/civil/geier.shtml Dr. Mark Geier Severely Criticized]", Stephen Barrett, M.D., Casewatch.net
= Medical licenses revoked =
On April 27, 2011, the Maryland State Board of Physicians suspended Geier's medical license as an "emergency action", saying he "endangers autistic children and exploits their parents by administering to the children a treatment protocol that has a known substantial risk of serious harm and which is neither consistent with evidence-based medicine nor generally accepted in the relevant scientific community".{{cite web|url=https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/Orders/D2425004.271.PDF |title=In the Matter of Mark R. Geier, M.D. |website=Maryland Board of Physicians |access-date=2016-11-18}} The board ruled that Geier misdiagnosed patients, diagnosed patients without sufficient tests, and recommended risky treatments without fully explaining the risks to the parents. They also ruled that he misrepresented his credentials, including during an interview with the board. Geier's lawyer, Joseph A. Schwartz III said the basis of the complaint was a "bona fide dispute over therapy", and hoped for a fair hearing to challenge the board's accusations.{{cite web |url= http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chibrknews-maryland-suspends-license-of-autism-doctor-20110504,0,2545323.story |title=Trib Update: Md. suspends autism doctor's license - chicagotribune.com |first1=Steve |last1=Mills |first2=Patricia |last2=Callahan |author2-link=Patricia Callahan |work=chicagotribune.com |year=2011 |quote=bona fide dispute over therapy |access-date=May 4, 2011}}
The suspension was reaffirmed in May 2011,{{cite web |url= http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-nw-autism-doctor-hearing-20110511,0,1449963.story |title=Trib Maryland medical board upholds autism doctor's suspension - chicagotribune.com |first1=Trine |last1=Tsouderos |first2=Meredith |last2=Cohn |work=chicagotribune.com |year=2011 |quote=upheld the suspension on appeal |access-date=June 5, 2011}} and upheld on appeal in March 2012 after a full evidentiary hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings in Maryland.{{cite web|url=http://www.mbp.state.md.us/BPQAPP/orders/d2425003.222.pdf |title=In the Matter of Mark R. Geier, M.D. |website=Mbp.state.md.us |access-date=2016-11-18}} Geier's licenses to practice medicine in the states of Washington,{{cite news |url= http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Controverisal-autism-doctor-suspended-in-1399027.php |title=Seattlepi Controversial autism doctor suspended in Washington|first=Vanessa |last=Ho |newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |year=2011 |quote=subsequently suspended as well |access-date=June 5, 2011}} Virginia{{cite web|url=http://www.dhp.virginia.gov/Notices/Medicine/0101048672/0101048672Order06092011.pdf |title=In the Matter of Mark R. Geier, M.D. |website=Dhp.virginia.gov |access-date=2016-11-18}} and California{{cite web|url=http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/LicenseLookupSystem/PhysicianSurgeon/Lookup.aspx?licenseType%3DG%26licenseNumber%3D88736 |title=Medical Board of California - Physician/Surgeon License Lookup |access-date=2011-08-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020061053/http://www2.mbc.ca.gov/LicenseLookupSystem/PhysicianSurgeon/Lookup.aspx?licenseType=G&licenseNumber=88736 |archive-date=2011-10-20 }} were suspended as well. In June 2012, Geier was charged with violation of the Maryland suspension by continuing to practice medicine without a license.{{cite web | url = http://www.casewatch.net/board/med/geier/m_geier_charges_2012.pdf | title = Violation of Summary Suspension Order and Charges Under the Maryland Medical Practices Act | date = June 15, 2012 | publisher = Maryland State Board of Physicians}} In August 2012, Geier's license was formally revoked by the Maryland State Board of Physicians.{{cite web|url=http://www.mbp.state.md.us/BPQAPP/orders/d2425008.222.pdf |title=In the Matter of Mark R. Geier, M.D. |website=Mbp.state.md.us |access-date=2016-11-18}} On 5 November 2012, the Missouri Medical board and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation revoked Geier's license, both citing action taken by the Maryland State Board of Physicians.{{cite news|title=Autism doctor loses license in Illinois, Missouri|author=Shelton, Deborah|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/11/05/autism-doctor-loses-license-in-illinois-missouri/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=5 November 2012|access-date=20 December 2012}} On April 12, 2013, Geier's last medical license in the United States was revoked by the state medical board of Hawaii.{{cite web|url=http://web.dcca.hawaii.gov/OAHadmin/PDF_INDEX/OAHPDF/MEDICAL%20BOARD/MED-2011-79-L%20MARK%20R.%20GEIER%20M.D.PDF |title=In the Matter of Mark R. Geier, M.D. |website=Dcca.hawaii.gov |access-date=2016-11-18}}
In 2011, his son David was charged by the Maryland State Board of Physicians with practicing as a licensed physician when he only has a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology,[http://www.casewatch.net/board/med/geier/d_geier_charges.pdf Charges Under the Maryland Medical Practices Act], Maryland State Board of Physicians, p. 2, point #1 of chapter "Allegations of Fact" and was fined $10,000 in July 2012.
= Lawsuit against Maryland Board of Physicians =
On December 21, 2012, a lawsuit was filed against the Maryland State Board of Physicians by Anne Geier. The claim made in case 371761-V was that a cease and desist order filed by the Maryland State Board of Physicians against Mark Geier, for prescribing medicine to his family after his license was suspended, was posted publicly on the Board's website disclosing their private medical information. The decision of the board was upheld on appeal.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gfrlaw.com/what-we-do/insights/maryland-board-physicians-absolute-immunity|title=Maryland Board of Physicians' Absolute Immunity|website=Gordon Feinblatt LLC}}
Personal life
Geier and his wife Anne played doubles tennis.{{cite web | url=http://www.midatlantic.usta.com/Hall-of-Fame/2007/ | title=2007 Mid-Atlantic Section Tennis Hall of Fame Inductees | work=USTA | year=2007 | access-date=21 January 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910194204/http://www.midatlantic.usta.com/Hall-of-Fame/2007 | archive-date=10 September 2015}} Their son David is also an avid tennis player.{{cite news | publisher = ABC News | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3317576&page=1 | title = Researchers Raise Eyebrows With Autism Findings | date = June 26, 2007 | access-date = November 19, 2009 | first = John | last = Donovan |author2=Katie Hinman |author3=Leigh Simons }} Anne died of metastatic melanoma at age 67 in 2014.
Geier died{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-04-01/rfk-jr-puts-anti-vaxxer-in-charge-of-studying-debunked-link-between-vaccines-and-autism|title=RFK Jr. reportedly puts anti-vaxxer in charge of studying debunked link between vaccines and autism|work=Los Angeles Times|date=2025-04-01|access-date=2025-04-12|quote=[David A.] Geier — along with his late father, Mark}}{{cite news|url=https://www.the74million.org/article/head-of-new-rfk-jr-vaccine-study-practiced-unlicensed-medicine-on-autistic-kids/|title=Head of New RFK Jr. Vaccine Study Practiced Unlicensed Medicine on Autistic Kids|publisher=The74|date=2025-04-11|access-date=2025-04-12|quote=David Geier ... alongside his father, Mark Geier, a doctor who died last month}} on March 20, 2025 in Jupiter, Florida.{{cite web|url=https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/dr-mark-geier-tribute-vaccine-safety-autistic-children-advocate/|title='Rare in His Brilliance': Tribute to Dr. Mark Geier — Advocate for Vaccine Safety and Autistic Children|publisher=Children’s Health Defense|date=2025-03-27|access-date=2025-04-12}}{{cite news |last1=Gorski |first1=David |title='"Make America Healthy Again": The new Lysenkoism |url=https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/make-america-healthy-again-the-new-lysenkoism/ |access-date=31 March 2025 |work= |date=31 March 2025}}
See also
{{portal|Biography}}
Notes and references
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://quackwatch.org/cases/civil/geier/ Dr Mark Geier Severely Criticized], by Stephen Barrett, M.D.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20040607025400/http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=20155 IOM.edu] – Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, Institute of Medicine, May 17, 2004
- [http://briandeer.com/wakefield/dtp-garth.htm Dr Mark Geier in error of magnitude] – Court report, June 25, 1990
{{Authority control}}
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Category:20th-century American physicians
Category:American anti-vaccination activists
Category:George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences alumni
Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty
Category:Physicians from Washington, D.C.
Category:Thiomersal and vaccines
Category:Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences faculty