Mark Geier

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Mark R. Geier (b. 1948, Washington, D.C.) is a medical doctor based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for ten years, and previously was a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He has studied the subject of vaccines for more than 30 years and has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers on vaccine safety, efficacy, contamination and policy. He has authored over 90 publications and has made several presentations to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the adverse effects of vaccinations. He and his son, David Geier, have been permitted to study the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) database of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in their capacity as witnesses for plaintiffs in litigation.

Geier is the subject of criticism, including his credibility as an expert witness and allegations of ethics violations and plagiarism. In January 2007, a paper by the Geiers was retracted by the journal Autoimmunity Reviews.^[1]

Contents 1 Career 2 Controversial studies 2.1 Limited access to Vaccine Safety Datalink records 2.2 Clinical studies on the role of mercury and androgens in autism 3 Criticism 3.1 Expert witness testimony 3.2 Ethics 4 See also 5 Notes and references 6 External links

[edit] Career

In 1970, while at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Geier co-authored a paper, published in Nature, reporting the first successful genetic engineering experiment in which bacteriophage Lambda carrying the galactose operon was used to correct the inability of cells in tissue culture from a patient with galactosemia to metabolise the milk sugar galactose.^[2] According to Geier's attorney, this work received world-wide acclaim in the scientific press and in the news media and resulted in a personal call of congratulation from then President Richard Nixon.^[3]

In 1973, Geier authored another paper in Nature which reported the spleen, previously thought of as mostly vestigial in humans, in fact played a critical role in immunity by maintaining intact antigen, thus allowing for a more robust immune response which was especially important to the vaccination process.^[4] Geier was a co-author on a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine which further discussed and extended the observations on the critical role that the spleen plays in response to vaccines and other immune challenges.^[5]

In 1978, Geier published the study "Endotoxins in commercial vaccine" in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, which found high levels of endotoxin in commercial vaccines, especially in whole cell diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis DPT vaccine.^[6]

Geier cowrote the article, "The true story of pertussis vaccination: a sordid legacy?",^[7] which won the first annual Stanley W. Jackson award for the best paper published in the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences during the period of 2000 to 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Geier has published several scientific reports, with his son David Geier, suggesting a relation between mercury exposure during infancy and the onset of neurodevelopmental disorders.^[8] He has claimed that his research shows a direct causal link between thimerosal containing vaccines (TCVs) and the onset of neurological disorders, including autism.

[edit] Controversial studies

Geier and his son have published seven studies on the possible link between autism spectrum disorders and TCVs,^[8] generating some controversy.^[9] 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."^[10] A report prepared by the staff of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, House Committee on Government Reform and chaired by Dan Burton, stated:

"However, the Committee upon a thorough review of the scientific literature and internal documents from government and industry did find evidence that thimerosal did pose a risk. Thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines is likely related to the autism epidemic. This epidemic in all probability may have been prevented or curtailed had the FDA not been asleep at the switch regarding the lack of safety data regarding injected thimerosal and the sharp rise of infant exposure to this known neurotoxin. Our public health agencies’ failure to act is indicative of institutional malfeasance for self-protection and misplaced protectionism of the pharmaceutical industry."^[11]

[edit] Limited access to Vaccine Safety Datalink records

The Geiers have been granted access to the Vaccine Safety Datalink records,^[12] 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."^[12]

[edit] Clinical studies on the role of mercury and androgens in autism

In 2006, the Geiers published in Hormone Research^[13] data suggesting a cyclical interaction between the methionine cycle-transsulfuration and androgen pathways in children with autistic disorders.

Mark Geier and David Geier have filed three U.S. patent applications on the use of the drug 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. The thought is that this ultimately provides a connection between autism, mercury exposure, and hyperandrogenicity, specifically precocious puberty.^[14][15][16]

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Expert witness testimony

Geier has been qualified as an expert witness in Federal Court^[17] 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. However, in ten 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."^[18][19] Geier's views have been found to fall outside of the scientific consensus. In a 2006 case^[18] regarding an immunoglobulin containing thimerosal which was alleged to have caused autism, Geier's testimony was found to fall below the Daubert standard, which essentially requires expert testimony on science to be scientifically sound and represent the general consensus. As Geier provided most of the plaintiffs' evidence, the case was thus subject to summary judgment.

Amongst the criticisms in the judge's decisions, Geier's literature review was found to be insufficient in justifying his claims, his lack of qualification in pediatrics was highlighted and he was found to be a "professional witness in areas for which he has no training, expertise, and experience," whose testimony was "intellectually dishonest," and "nothing more than an egregious example of blatant, result-oriented testimony."^[18]

[edit] Ethics

On March 16, 2006, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published two patent applications by Mark Geier and David Geier on the use of the drug Lupron in combination with chelation therapy as a treatment protocol for autism.^[15][16]

David Geier’s institutional affiliation was listed in a 2006 online publication ahead of print as "Department of Biochemistry, George Washington University, Washington, D.C." On July 5, 2006, Hormone Research republished the article with a byline that read "President, MedCon, Inc., 14 Redgate Ct., Silver Spring, MD 20905, USA, Tel. +1 301 384 6988."^[20] The republished article contains a "Potential Conflict of Interest and Affiliation Statement" that did not appear in the original version:

"Dr. Mark Geier is not affiliated with MedCon, Inc. David Geier is the President of MedCon. MedCon does not have a financial interest in relation to autism and puberty. Neither Dr. Mark Geier nor David Geier has any conflict of interest regarding anything related to this paper."

An investigation by a blogger on autism issues has found that the Institutional Review Board responsible for approving some of Mark Geier's recent research is composed almost exclusively by interested parties in vaccine-damage litigation, including Mark and David Geier themselves, Anne Geier (Mark Geier's wife, David Geier's mother), John Young (a business partner of Mark Geier), an attorney prosecuting vaccination damage cases, and a complainant in a vaccination damage case.^[21]. The registration document for the Review Board has been obtained by freedom of information request and is located here.

[edit] See also

• Controversies in autism
• Vaccination critics

[edit] Notes and references

• Geier MR, Geier DA (Spring, 2003). "Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines, Neurodevelopment Disorders and Heart Disease in the United States" (PDF). Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 8 (1). 
• Bradstreet J, Geier DA, Kartzinel JJ, Adams JB, Geier MR (Summer, 2003). "A Case-Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders" (PDF). Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 8 (3). 
• Geier DA, Geier MR (2005). "A two-phased population epidemiological study of the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a follow-up analysis" (PDF). Med. Sci. Monit. 11 (4): CR160–70. PMID 15795695. 
• Geier DA, Geier MR (Spring, 2006). "Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines" (PDF). Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 11 (1). 

[edit] External links

• Autism Research: What Makes an Expert?, by Brian Deer. Published in the British Medical Journal, 31 March 2007
• CaseWatch.org - Dr Mark Geier Severely Criticized
• IOM.edu - Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism, Institute of Medicine, May 17, 2004
• Dr Mark Geier in error of magnitude - Court report, June 25 1990

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