Updated May 27, 2011 Mark Geier's license to practice medicine in Washington is suspended
Updated May 23, 2011 David Geier was removed from the Maryland Autism Commission.
Update May 19, 2011
I will be updating this silently as I find new posts and news articles.
Mark Geier MD and his son David Geier have been at the very heart of the "autism is vaccine injury" mythology for over a decade, although over and over again the senior Geier has been found to make careless errors and to be "seriously intellectually dishonest". They also developed a "protocol" for "treating autism" using a powerful drug, Lupron, which in men, induces chemical castration. The senior Geier's medical license was suspended effective April 27 2011.
You can download a copy of the complaint here Download D2425004.271 (large PDF file; 1.8 KB) or directly from the following URL https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/Orders/D2425004.271.PDF (same size file).
The following lists are of responses that approve of the suspension; responses critical of the suspension; and the backstory (previously published posts)
News Reports on the activities of Mark and David Geier
- May 4 2011 Patricia Callahan and Steve Mills at the Chicago Tribune Trib Update: Maryland Suspends Doctor's License
- May 4 2011 Board: Patricia Callahan and Steve Mills at the Chicago Tribune Drug therapy for children with autism was risky
- May 5 2011 Meredith Cohn at the Baltimore Sun Maryland Looks to Remove Autism Panelist with Links to Suspended Doctor
- May 5 2011 Bob LaMendola at the Florida Sun Sentinel Autism doctor operating in Florida has Maryland license suspended
- May 6 2011 Julie Bykowicz at the Baltimore Sun State Seeks to Rescind Controversial Autism Appointment
- May 6 2011 Jean Marbella at the Baltimore Sun The Blogger and the Doctor (on Kathleen Seidell's patient, thorough research on the Geiers and their protocol)
- May 10 2011 Brandon K. Thorpe at the Broward Palm Beach New Times Governors in the Castration Business
- May 11 2011 Trine Tsuderos and Meredith Cohn at the Chicago Tribune Maryland medical board upholds autism doctor's suspension
- May 11 2011 Frank D. Roylance and Meredith Cohn at the Baltimore Sun Alternative autism treatments can be appealing to desperate parents
- May 19 2011 Meredith Cohn at the Washington Post Doctor's Son Charged with Illicit Practice
- May 19 2011 Sean Patrick Norris at Maryland Gazette.net: State Medical Board: North Bethesda Doctor Remains a Threat
- May 20 Frank D. Roylance at the Baltimore Sun [Maryland] Governor O'Malley Ousts David Geier from Maryland Autism Commission
- May 23 2011 Brandon K. Thorpe at the Broward Palm Beach New Times: Practitioners of Quack Autism Treatment in Trouble with [Maryland] Governor
- May 26 2011 Vannessa Ho at the Seattle Post Intelligencer Controversial Autism Doctor's Licence Suspended
Responses approving of the suspension order and subsequent developments, to date:
- May 3 2011 Kathleen Seidel at Neurodiversity Maryland Medical Board Suspends Mark Geier's License (includes full text of suspension order key points from the suspension order)
- May 3 2011 Prometheus at Photon in the Darkness Yet More "Callous Disregard" Mark Geier's Medical License Suspended
- May 3 2011 Orac at Respectful Insolence Why Not Just Castrate Them Part Six The State of Maryland finally takes "emergency action" against Mark Geier and his Lupron protocol for autism
- May 3 2011 Todd W at Harpocrates Speaks Mark "Castrate 'em" Geier License Suspended (excellent summary of the backstory and issues).
- May 4 2011 Sullivan at LeftBrain/RightBrain Maryland Board of Physicians "Mark Geier Endangers Autistic Children And Exploits Their Parents"
- May 4 2011 Steven Novella MD at Neurologica Mark Geier's License Suspended
- May 4 2011 Seth Mnookin at The Panic Virus Blog Lessons from the shaming of chemically castrating doc who “endangers autistic children and exploits their parents”
- May 4 2011 Barbara Martin MD at Pathophilia Geier's Medical License Suspended
- May 4 2011 Mama Mara at Mama Mara Quackery Right Here in River City
- May 5 2011 Sullivan at LeftBrain/RightBrain Do We Have to Wait for Someone To Be Injured to Call A Practice Unsafe?
- May 5 2011 Emily Willingham at the Biology Files Autism, Lupron, the Geiers, and what can science do about emotions?
- May 5 2011 Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy Antivaxxer Mark Geier has License revoked in Maryland
- May 5 2011 Bastion of Sass at Bastion of Sass Maryland State Board of Physicians Finally Acts Against Autism Non-Expert Geier
- May 5 2011 Kristina Chew at Care2.com Maryland Suspends Autism Doctor's License
- May 5 2011 ToddW at Harpocrates Speaks A Close Look At David Geier (on details from the suspension order: David Geier appears to have on at least one occasion provided medical care while not licensed to practice medicine; also covers David Geier's position on the Maryland state Autism Commission)
- May 6 2011 Orac at Respectful Insolence The Fallout from the Suspension of Mark Geier's Medical License (why should the entirely unqualified David Geier sit on a state autism commission?, and reflections on Mark Geier's licensure in states other than Maryland)
- May 6 2011 Vincent Ianelli MD at About.com.Pediatrics Autism Researcher has License Suspended
- May 6 2011 Pete Trzeciak at Pete's Wicked Blog The Power of Good Science Reporting
- May 6 2011 Robert Goldberg PhD at How Did Autism Quack Get on the Maryland Autism (Questions about David Geier's Appointment, and connections to John L. Young, MD)
- May 6 2011 Mama Mara at MamaMara Hoping to Hear About an Arrest
- May 6 2011 ToddW at Harpocrates Speaks Urgent Please Call the Maryland State Board of Physicians about David Geier (Investigators wish to speak to patients or parents of patients who may have witnessed David Geier providing medical care.)
- May 7 2011 The only Living Thing at The Only Living Thing Medical Quackery
- May 8 2011 Mike Stanton at Blog-Thing Geier! Geir! Pants on Fire!
- May 12 2011 Club 166 at Club 166 The Pigeons Have Come Home to Roost (Club 166 is a physician; reflecting on the suspension order)
- May 19 2011 Kathleen Seidel at Neurodiversity Blog Maryland Authorities Charge Lupron Promoters with unprofessional conduct, practicing Medicine without a licence
- May 19 2011 ToddW at Harpocrates Speaks Charges Leveled Against David and Mark Geier
- May 20 2011 Seth Mnookin at the Panic Virus Roundup and Reactions to the Latest Charges Against Mark and David Geier
- May 20 2011 Seth Mnookin at the Panic Virus Maryland charges David Geier with practicing medicine without a license
- May 20 2011 Sullivan at Leftbrain/RightBrain Maryland Authorities Charge Lupron Promoters with Unprofessional Conduct, Practicing Medicine Without a License
- May 20 2011 Orac at Respectful Insolence Why Not Just Castrate Them? (part 8) State Moves Against the Geiers
- May 23 2011 at Club 166 Missing Important Social Clues (on David Geier's suspension from the Maryland Autism Commission)
- May 24 2011 Sullivan at LeftBrain/RightBrain David Geier Ousted from Autism Commission
- May 27 2011 ToddW at Harpocrates Speaks Mark "Castrate 'Em" Geier's License Suspended in Washington (dominos about to fall)
- May 27 2011 Seth Mnookin at PLOS Panic Virus Washington State joins Maryland in Suspending License of doc who chemically castrates children
Responses critical of the suspension order, to date:
- May 20, 2011 at 4:30 pm PDT: no responses to date
- May 21, 2011 Patrick "Tim" Bolen at the Bolen Report Attack on the Geiers (note this "report" contains ad hominem attacks on several people)
Backstory on Mark Geier MD and his research "associate", his son David Geier Specifically on Their Lupron "Protocol"
- August 25, 2006: Kathleen Seidell at Neurodiversity Blog Significant Misrepresentations: Mark Geier, David Geier & the Evolution of the Lupron Protocol (Annotated lists of posts covering the Geiers' Lupron Protocol)
- February 23 2006 Orac at Respectful Insolence Why Not Just Castrate Them?
- November 5 2008 Barbara Martin MD at Pathophilia Op-Ed Plus Further Commentary on the Work of Mark and David Geier
- May 21 2009 Trine Tsuoderos at the Chicago Tribune 'Miracle drug' called junk science
- May 21 2009 Steve Mills and Tim Jones at the Chicago Tribune at the Chicago Tribune Physician team's crusade shows cracks
- May 21 209 Kristina Chew at Change.org Misrepresenting Autism: The Geiers, Lupron, and Vaccine Litigation
- May 25 2009 David Gorski MD at Science-Based Medicine Chemical Castration for Autism: After Three Years, the Mainstream Media Finally Notices
- August 24 2009 David N. Brown Download Even Worse: The Geiers' Lupron Protocol downloaded from http://evilpossum.weebly.com/cures.html on May 5 2011
Thanks for the link, Liz, and for always being the first to pull together a comprehensive list of resources on the issue du jour. I doff my librarian's hat to you!
One minor correction about my post: it's not the full text of the order, only the general parts. I left out the sections describing the treatment provided to specific children; I also left out the footnotes. I did this because I had to transcribe the whole thing manually (it wouldn't load into my OCR program), and had to pare it down to size in order to blog the thing before bedtime!
Also, consider adding to your list a direct link to the order on the Maryland Board of Medical Practice website:
https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/Orders/D2425004.271.PDF
Posted by: Kathleen Seidel | Wednesday, May 04, 2011 at 03:49 PM
You knew when the Geirs were given access to government vaccine adverse reaction files, and reported vaccines are connected to autism, they had made instant enimies. They are being targeted as Wakefield was and they are receiving the same treatment.
Posted by: Ross Coe | Thursday, May 05, 2011 at 07:46 PM
Mr. Coe is mistaken on several levels. The Geiers didn't "make enemies". Leaving aside the medical mistreatment of children outlined in the Maryland medical board, above, they both had a track record of lack of integrity. Their research was corrupt in several ways.
Here is one example of how the Geiers used reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, from 2005:(emphasis addded)
Posted by: Liz Ditz | Thursday, May 05, 2011 at 08:36 PM
I shamelessly nominate the following from my site:
http://evilpossum.weebly.com/cures.html
"Even Worse" doc download
Passage of particular interest:
It can be said, at the start, that any positive association of autism with excessive testosterone would have to be considered surprising at best and improbable at worst. As a a matter of “common sense”, a surplus of a growth hormone would be expected (rightly or wrongly!) to accelerate physical development, and lead to greater size and strength compared to same-age peers. No such pattern is evident in autistic children. If anything, they tend to have the opposite problem: Autistic children are routinely reported as small compared to same-age or even younger children, and also having poor muscle tone. Thus, by outward appearances, autistics have no more need for hormone suppressants than anorexics do for diet pills! This does not mean that a diagnosis of elevated testosterone is out of the question. It does mean that the Geiers' claim was counterintuitive at the start, and that a large body of evidence should have been necessary to get it taken seriously.
David N. Brown
Mesa, Arizona
Posted by: David N. Brown | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 12:14 AM
Well done, as always, Liz. Am writing the CA BOM to urge them to follow suit.
Posted by: Squillo | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 08:25 AM
I confess I downloaded David Brown's excellent essay with the intention of adding it to the list of resources, and then just...didn't until this morning's nudge. Thank you David.
Posted by: Liz Ditz | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 04:36 PM
Mr Coe claimed that the "Geiers are being targeted." Here are more examples of criticisms of the Geiers scholarship.
May">http://aap.org/profed/thimaut-may03.htm">May 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics message to clinicians: Study Fails to Show a Connection Between Thimerosal and Autism
relevant to Geier MR, Geier DA. Thimerosal in childhood vaccines, neurodevelopment disorders and heart disease in the United States. J Am Physicians Surg. 2003;8:6-11
The Message to Clinicians goes on to detail 15 specific failings of the 2003 Geier and Geier paper.
The following year IOM Report on Vaccines and Autism: September 20 2004
As any reader can see, the Geiers own failures of integrity and scholarship are at fault.
Posted by: Liz Ditz | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 04:39 PM
Mr. Coe, I see you are back! Would you care to explain how what happened to Roald Dahl's daughter after measles was akin to autism? I'd really like to know.
Posted by: Chris | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 09:03 PM
Dear Mr. Coe,
Thank you for visiting my blog.
There have been several responses to your comment. Perhaps you would like to return and address those comments.
Posted by: Liz | Friday, May 06, 2011 at 09:08 PM
disemvowelled potentially libelous comment
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Posted by: anonymous | Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 07:10 AM
Re: disemvowelled potentially libelous comment
It is ONLY liable, if it is FALSE. I can prove each and EVERY part of my post about Dr. Mark Geier's buddy in Texas.
Posted by: anonymous | Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 09:31 AM
1. Anonymous comments are cowardly
2. The word you are looking for is libel, not liable.
3. Provide documentation of your claims and you are welcome to post them here.
Posted by: Liz Ditz | Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 09:40 AM
Good stuff as per usual, thanks. I do hope this kind of thing gets more exposure.
Posted by: Low Carbon Steels | Monday, July 11, 2011 at 12:32 AM
Well done, as always, Liz. Am writing the CA BOM to urge them to follow suit.
Posted by: Foronda | Monday, December 05, 2011 at 05:55 AM
in his book from 1953. That they knew what mercury could do to a child's brain, One could also argue, that with all the nwarings out there about Mercury and Thimerosal. That certain people wanted this in the children at all cost, for what ever reason. Be it Greed or to make a step ford society. A partial lobotomized state of varying degrees, is what is appearing to be the out come. So far. That, is exactly what we are seeing in today's children. You could argue, I am just a conspiracy theorist. I could argue, Fact is! he said it and we are living it today. And asking Did theThimerosal cause it????As said in 1953, in his book impact of science on society BTW You can no longer down load these pages, from the internet. No one was buying the E book Russell being quoted as saying we would put mercury in vaccines, and other compounds to produce a partial lobotomized state Also from Russell who advocated the use of vaccines to induce partial chemical lobotomies and create a servile zombie population,When reading this next Quote,please remember the non profit organization every child by two Diet, injections, and injunctions will combine, from a very early age, to produce the sort of character and the sort of beliefs that the authorities consider desirable, and any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible. Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society”, 1953, pg 49-501953. Bertrand Russell, The Impact of Science on Society: the subject which will be of most importance politically is Mass Psychology . The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen. As yet there is only one country which has succeeded in creating this politician’s paradise.”11 Do I think It is a conspiracy of the medical community. No! but someone wanted it (Thimerosal) to stay in the vaccines, because in the next post I will send it shows that they were warned about the inefficacy and the Toxicity of the preservative for decades. Also in the nwarings, they were suggesting the total removal of it! from everything it was in. All the way down to butt balm, that was in 1948 and again in 1982. The sad thing is, it was an American Medical Association grant that paid for the study. And it was good enough back then, to be in the JAMA. So today, those at the AMA know the truth about Thimerosal and will still not come forward. The AMA paid for the study,and found that Thimerosal is weak as an antimicrobial at best. And dangerously Toxic down to an unbelievably low level, AND SAID NOTHING!!!!!! In japan they they have been known to fall on their own swords, for far less incompetency. Here we promote them, and pay them over six figures. And that is why, that health insurance cost as much as a mortgage in TX on a3 bed room brick home. $1200 to $1400 a month. Here is the problem, of why this is so hard to believe. any serious criticism of the powers that be will become psychologically impossible. Bertrand Russell, “The Impact of Science on Society”1953, pg 49-50
Posted by: Auth | Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 12:45 AM
Pediatrics. 2010 Sep 13.Prenatal and Infant Exposure to Thimerosal From Vaccines and Immunoglobulins and Risk of Autism.Price CS, Thompson WW, Goodson B, Weintraub ES, Croen LA, Hinrichsen VL, Marcy M, Robertson A, Eriksen E, Lewis E, Bernal P, Shay D, Davis RL, Destefano F.Neurotox Res. 2010 Jul;18(1):59-68. Epub 2009 Sep 16.Are neuropathological cnotidions relevant to ethylmercury exposure?Aschner M, Ceccatelli S.Neuropsychological Performance 10 years after Immunization in Infancy with Thimerosal-Containing VaccinesAuthors: Tozzi AE, Bisiacchi P, Tarantino V, De Mei B, D'Elia L, Chiarotti F, Salmaso S.Source: Pediatrics, February 2009, Vol. 123(2):475-82Mercury Levels in Newborns and Infants after Receipt of Thimerosal-Containing VaccinesPichichero ME, Gentile A, Giglio N, et alPediatrics, February 2008; 121(2) e208-214Mercury, Vaccines, And Autism: One Controversy, Three HistoriesBaker JPAmerican Journal of Public Health, February 2008;98(2): 244-253Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California's Developmental Services System: Mercury in RetrogradeSchechter R, Grether JKArch Gen Psychiatry, January 2008; 65(1):19-24Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 YearsThompson WW, Price C, Goodson B, et al; Vaccine Safety Datalink TeamN Engl J Med, Sep 27, 2007; 357(13):1281-1292Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal AssociationHeron J, Golding J, ALSPAC Study TeamPediatrics, September 2004, Vol. 114(3):577-583Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal AssociationAndrews N, Miller E, Grant A, Stowe J, Osborne V, Taylor BPediatrics, September 2004, Vol. 114(3):584-591Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Critical Review of Published Original DataParker SK, Schwartz B, Todd J, Pickering LKPediatrics, September 2004, Vol. 114(3):793-804The Evidence for the Safety of Thimerosal in Newborn and Infant VaccinesClements CJVaccine, May 7, 2004, Vol. 22(15-16):1854-1861Safety of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: A Two-Phased Study of Computerized Health Maintenance Organization DatabasesVerstraeten T, Davis RL, DeStefano F, et alPediatrics, November 2003, Vol. 112(5):1039-1048The Toxicology of Mercury Current Exposures and Clinical ManifestationsClarkson TW, Magos L, Myers GJNew England Journal of Medicine, October 30, 2003, Vol. 349(18):1731-7Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and AutismHviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye MJournal of the American Medical Association, October 1, 2003, Vol. 290(13):1763-6Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence from Danish Population-Based DataMadsen KM, Lauritsen MB, Pedersen CB, et alPediatrics, Sept. 2003, Vol. 112(3 Pt 1):604-606Autism and Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines. Lack of Consistent Evidence for an AssociationStehr-Green P, Tull P, Stellfeld M, Mortenson PB, Simpson DAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, August 2003, Vol. 25(2):101-6
Posted by: Laura | Sunday, March 18, 2012 at 09:27 AM