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Mark Geier

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Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD, (b. 1948, Washington, D.C.) is a medical doctor based in Silver Spring, Maryland, who also holds a doctorate in genetics and is board-certified in medical genetics and forensic medicine. 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 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, are the only independent researchers ever to have been permitted to study the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) database of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), (outlined below).

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. This work received world-wide aclaim in the scientific press and in the news media and resulted in a personal call of congratulation from then President Richard Nixon.

In 1973 Geier was an author of another paper in Nature which reported the spleen, previously thought of as mostly vestigual 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 the vaccination process. 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. Also in 1973, after having been part of the group that discovered that there was widespread bacterial virus contamination in US vaccines, Geier presented a paper "A model system for the evaluation of the fate of phage in contaminated vaccines: Physiologic disposition of bacteriophage in mice" at the Proceedings of the Workshop of Problems of Phage Contamination FDA.

In 1978, Geier published a 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. Following this paper, Geier worked for many years to help convince the public health authorities to switch from whole cell DTP to the much safer DTaP, which contained a highly purified form of pertussis vaccine.

In 1991, the IOM and the National Academies of Science invited Geier to address them on the toxins contained in DTP vaccine and the expected time frame over which they could be expected to work. Geier presented evidence to the IOM that the expected time of vulnerability was seven days. In 1993, the IOM published that the evidence was compatible with the theory that whole Pertussis vaccine was causing permanent brain damage in otherwise apparently health children, if the first symptoms of neurological damage occurred in the first seven days following the vaccination. The US began to switch to the far safer DTaP in 1993, and as of 2002 the US no longer used any whole cell DTP vaccine.

Geier wrote the article, "The True Story of Pertussis Vaccination: A Sordid Legacy?" 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.

Geier has testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform Investigating Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic, to critique the Hviid study, conducted in Denmark on autism and thimerosal exposure, and he has also addressed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Committee regarding vaccine safety. He has testified as an expert witness in about 100 cases before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the US Court of Federal Claims. Dr. Geier and his son have been invited to speak to many state houses who were or are considering state wide bans on Thimerosal containing vaccines.

Geier has published several scientific reports, with his son David Geier, showing a relation between mercury exposure during infancy and the onset of neurodevelopmental disorders. Geier has suggested his research shows a direct causal link between Thimerosal containing vaccines (TCVs) and the onset of neurological disorders, including autism.

Controversial studies

Geier and his son have published seven studies on the possible link between autistic spectrum disorders and TCVs. In their first study, they compared the number of complaints associated with TCVs, administered between 1992 and 2000, to the number of complaints resulting from a thimerosal-free vaccine administered between 1997 and 2000. The children who received greater amounts of ethylmercury from TCVs were more likely to have a complaint filed with the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Further studies by the Geiers yielded similar results. In 2006, the Geiers published an article , "Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines", which contends that recent data confirms a reduction in autism diagnoses corresponds directly with the removal of TCVs from childhood vaccination schedules.

US health agencies have uniformly rejected the conclusions of the Geiers' studies, and one of the Geiers' articles was the subject of heavy criticism by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Geier says public health officials are "just trying to cover it up." On the other hand, "Mercury in Medicine Taking Unnecessary Risks", a report prepared by the staff of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and Wellness, House Committee on Government Reform, Chaired by Dan Burton, was published in the Congressional Record in May, 2003, 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."[1].

Limited access to Vaccine Safety Datalink records

On February 17, 2004, a panel of medical experts was assembled by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The panel recommended the CDC ease its restrictions on outside scientists seeking access to its strictly confidential Vaccine Safety Datalink, containing over seven million records including reports of suspected adverse reactions to vaccines.

The Geiers have been granted access to this data [2], but the National Immunization Program found that "In summary, 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."[3]

Clinical studies on the role of mercury and androgens in autism

Geier has also published studies which, he says, indicate children diagnosed with autism excrete more mercury upon chelation than control subjects. Many of these children are reported as having tests showing amounts of mercury excreted several times the normal levels, although the studies are (like the much of Geier's autism research) now discredited. Chelation therapy is conventionally used only to treat heavy metal poisoning, and carries the risk of overly reducing the levels of beneficial metals in the body, such as calcium. In 2004 Dr. Geier and his son published a paper in Medical Hypotheses, a non-peer-reviewed journal, on the potential importance of lowering testosterone as part of the treatment of autistic spectum disorders, which they claim involve mercury toxicity. In 2006 the Geiers published in the peer-reviewed "Hormone Research"2006;66:182-188. "A Clinical and Laboratory Evaluation of Methionine Cycle-Transsulfuration and Androgen Pathway Markers in Children with Autistic Disorders." This paper presents data from Geier's clinic suggesting a cyclical interaction between the methionine cycle-transsulfuration and androgen pathways in children with autistic disorders. This paper was followed up by another publication by the Geiers, "A case-series of children with apparent mercury toxic encephalopathies manifesting with clinical symptoms of regressive autistic disorders. J Toxicol Environ Health A (in press). 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 [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 lowering glutathione levels. This interaction between the glutathione and androgen pathways plays a major role in the pathogenosis autism. It also accountsfor the fact that many autistic children exhibit varying degrees of premature puberty. Lupron is an agonist of gonadotropin releasing factor in the hypothalmus which controls the pituitary release of FSH and LH which in turn controls androgen production. Lupron is FDA approved for the treatment of premature puberty and has a long history of safety and efficacy in the treatment of premature puberty although significant side-effects have been reported most related to lowering estrogen and testosterone levels when used for the treatment of prostate cancer in men and for the treatment of endometriosis and cyctic ovarian disease in adult women.

An advocate for vaccine safety

Geier has supported efforts by Representatives Dave Weldon, MD, Dan Burton, and Carolyn Maloney, to pass legislation introduced in early 2005 to ban the use of mercury based preservatives (i.e., thimerosal) in vaccines in the United States. Although mercury preservatives have been removed or reduced from some vaccines in the US, several vaccines and most US influenza vaccines still contain the full dose of Thimerosal. Geier said in an interview that the link between thimerosal and autism was clear.

An NBC crew filmed a presentation by the Geiers before the network's Autism: The Hidden Epidemic?[4] series in February, 2005, but the producers chose not to use the material.

Credibility as expert witness questioned

Dr. Geier has been qualified as an expert witness in Federal Court. Specifically, in the 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) the Federal Judge rejected calls for his testimony to be ignored.

Dr Geier has been accepted as an expert witness in approximately 100 hearings for parents seeking compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for vaccine injuries to their children. 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." (John and Jane Doe v. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., 2006)

Dr. Geier's views have been found to fall outside of the scientific concensus. In a 2006 case (John and Jane Doe v. Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.) regarding an immunoglobulin containing thimerosal which was alleged to have caused autism, Dr. 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 concensus. As Dr. Geier proveded most of the plaintiffs' evidence, the case was thus subject to summary judgement.

Amoungst the Judge's decision's criticisms, Dr. 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", "nothing more than an egregious example of blatant, result-oriented testimony."

Allegations of ethics violations

Kathleen Seidel, an autism rights (neurodiversity) activist who manages the Neurodiversity.com blog, set out to scrutinize research by Geier & Geier that supports their "Lupron protocol".

On June 9, 2006, Seidel documented how she uncovered an apparent affiliation misrepresentation in the part of David Geier [5]. In an article that had been published ahead of print in the journal Hormone Research, and which had already been indexed by PubMed, David Geier’s institutional affiliation was listed as "Department of Biochemistry, George Washington University, Washington, D.C." However, according to Dr. Allen Goldstein, Chairman of the GWU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mr. Geier took two courses in biochemistry during the 2003-2004 school year and none thereafter, and he took the last of three public health courses during the Spring 2005 semester. Dr. Goldstein described the affiliation claim in the Hormone Research article as “fallacious,” and stated that it conveyed a “significant misrepresentation” of Mr. Geier’s position in the field of biochemistry.

On June 20, 2006, Seidel made a second damaging revelation [6]. She had requested a copy of the electronic registration of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) that approved the study initially accepted by Hormone Research. An IRB is typically an impartial body which determines whether research is scientifically valid, ethical, and in accordance with relevant regulations.

The members of the Geiers' IRB included Mark Geier and David Geier themselves, Ann Geier (who is Mark Geier's wife), two anti-thimerosal activists, a DAN! practitioner who prescribes Lupron injections, and an anti-thimerosal lawyer. Given the composition of the IRB, and considering Federal and state regulations, Seidel contends that it is unlikely that a majority of voters eligible to decide on Geier & Geier's research could ever be achieved.

Background

Education:

Work Experience:

Board Certification:

Other Positions:

  • 1980-2003 - Laboratory Director, Molecular Medicine, MD
  • 1980-Present - Co-director of Genetic Consultants, Bethesda, MD
  • 1981-Present - Director of Institute of Immuno-Oncology and Genetics, MD
  • 1986-Present - President of Genetic Counseling and Research, Inc., T/A The Genetic Center, Baltimore, MD
  • 1997-Present - President of Genetic Counseling and Research, Inc. T/A The Ultrasound Institute of Baltimore
  • 1997-Present - President of the Genetic Centers of America
  • 2001 - Host of one hour weekly medical talk show “The Dr. Mark Geier Show” on KFNX in Phoenix, Arizona, WALE in Provident, Rhode Island, and on the World Wide Web.

Journal Peer-Reviewer:

  • Annals of Internal Medicine
  • Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology
  • Environmental Health Perspectives
  • Expert Review of Vaccines
  • Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs
  • Vaccine
  • Drug Safety
  • Journal of Toxicology & Environmental Health, Part A


Major Presentations:

  • Addressed United States’ State Department, Foreign Service Institute (Washington, DC) on Contemporary Genetics
  • Addressed the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC) on Vaccine Safety & Vaccine Policy Issues
  • Addressed the Government Reform Committee of the United States’ House of Representatives (Washington, DC) on Vaccine Safety Issues
  • Addressed the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Advisory Committee (Silver Spring, MD) on Vaccine Safety Issues

See also

References

Merril CR, Geier MR, Petricciani J. Bacterial virus gene expression in human cells. Nature 1971;233:398-400.

Petricciani JC, Binder MK, Merril CR, Geier MR. Galactose utilization in galactosemia. Science 1972;175:1368-70.

Geier MR, Trigg ME, Merril CR. The fate of bacteriophage lambda in non-immune germfree mice. Nature 1973;246:221-2.

Geier MR, Trigg ME, Merril CR. A model system for the evaluation of the fate of phage in contaminated vaccines: Physiologic disposition of bacteriophage in mice. Proceedings of the Workshop of Problems of Phage Contamination FDA, 1973.

Trigg ME, Geier MR, Merril CR. Screening for genetic disease. N Eng J Med 1973;289:755.

Trigg ME, Geier MR, Merril CR. Trapping of antigen in spleen. N Eng J Med 1975;292:214.

Geier MR, Stanbro H, Merril CR. Endotoxins in commercial vaccine. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 1978;36:445-9.

Trigg ME, Hitchens J, Hutchinson G, Geier MR. Low maternal serum AFP and Down Syndrome. Lancet 1984;2:161.

Geier MR. High cutoffs for maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening by using sample percentiles. The American Journal of Human Genetics. 1/V 47(#3) Suppl A1081.

Geier MR, Young JL. Criticism on update of MSAFP policy statement from the ASHG. The American Journal of Human Genetics 1990;47:740-1.

Geier MR. Rubella vaccination. Fertility & Sterility 1992;56(1):229. Geier MR, Geier DA. Immunological reactions and hepatitis B vaccine. Ann Intern Med 2001;134:1155.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Disease. Colonization and Settlement (1608-1760). Editor Nash GB, Facts on File Encyclopedia of American History Series, Vol. 2:90-3, 2003.

Geier DA, Geier MR. Anthrax vaccination and joint related adverse reactions in light of biological warfare scenarios. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2002;20:217-20.

Geier DA, Geier MR. Cutaneous immunologic reactions to hepatitis B virus vaccine. Ann Intern Med 2002;136:780-1.

Geier MR, Geier DA. The state of polio vaccination in the world today: The case for continuing routine vaccination. Toxicology Mechanisms & Methods 2002;12:221-8.

Geier DA, Geier MR. The true story of pertussis vaccination: A sordid legacy? J Hist Med Allied Sci 2002;57:249-84.

Geier DA, Geier MR. Smallpox and Anthrax in the United States. Emerging Drugs & Devices 2002;7(8):27-31.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing vaccines: a brief communication. Exp Biol & Med 2003;228:660-4

Geier MR, Geier DA, Zahalsky AC. Influenza vaccination and Guillain Barre Syndrome. Clin Immunol 2003;107:116-21.

Geier MR, Geier DA, Zahalsky AC. A review of hepatitis B vaccination. Expert Opinion on Drug Safety 2003;2:113-22.

Geier DA, Geier MR. An assessment of the impact of thimerosal on childhood neurodevelopmental disorders. Pediatr Rehabil 2003;6:97-102.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Pediatric MMR vaccination safety. International Pediatrics 2003;18:108-13.

Bradstreet J, Geier DA, Kartzinel JJ, Adams JB, Geier MR. A case-control study of mercury burden in children with autistic spectrum disorders. J Am P

Geier DA, Geier MR. A comparative evaluation of the effects of MMR vaccination and mercury doses from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines on the population prevalence of autism. Med Sci Monit 2004;10(3):PI33-39

Geier MR, Geier DA. Study misses link between thimerosal and neurodevelopmental disoders. Pediatrics 2004; Published P3R Letter to the Editor.

Geier DA, Geier MR. Gastrointestinal reactions and Rotavirus vaccination based upon analysis of the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) database for 1999. A model of the calculation of the incidence rates and statistical significance of adverse events following immunization. Hepatogastroenterology 2004;51:477-481.

Geier DA, Geier MR. A review of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System database. Exp Opinion on Pharmacotherapy 2004;5:691-698.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Parents’ worries about thimerosal in vaccines are well founded. Pediatrics 2004; Published P3R Letter to the Editor.

Geier DA, Geier MR. An evaluation of serious neurological disorders following immunization: a comparison of whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccines. Brain Dev 2004;26:296-300.

Geier MR, Geier DA. Thimerosal does not belong in vaccines. Pediatrics 2004; Published P3R Letter to the Editor.

Geier DA, Geier MR. Neurodevelopmental disorders following Thimerosal-containing childhood immunizations: a follow-up analysis. Int J Toxicol 2004;23:369-376.

Geier DA, Geier MR. An evaluation of the effects of Thimerosal on neurodevelopmental disorders reported following DTP and Hib vaccines in comparison to DTPH vaccine in the United States. J Toxicol Environ Health A 2006;69:1481-1495.

Geier DA, Geier MR. A meta-analysis epidemiological assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders following vaccines administered from 1994 through 2000 in the United States. Neuro Endocrinol Lett 2006;27(4) (in press).

Geier DA, Geier MR. A case-series of children with apparent mercury toxic encephalopathies manifesting with clinical symptoms of regressive autistic disorders. J Toxicol Environ Health A (in press).

Geier DA, King PG, Geier MR. Influenza vaccine: a review of the effectiveness of the US immunization program and policy considerations. J Am Phys Surg (in press).

  • JPandS.org (pdf) - 'Thimerosal in Childhood Vaccines, Neurodevelopment Disorders and Heart Disease in the United States', Mark and David Geier, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, vol 8, no 1, Spring, 2003
  • JPandS.org (pdf) - 'A Case-Control Study of Mercury Burden in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders', Jeff Bradstreet, MD, David A. Geier, BA, Jerold J. Kartzinel, MD, James B. Adams, PhD, Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, vol 8, no 3, Summer, 2003
  • MedSciMonit.com (pdf) - 'A two-phased population epidemiological study of the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines: a follow up analysis', David A. Geier and Mark R. Geier, Med Sci Monit, vol 11, no 4, April 1, 2005
  • A-Champ.org (pdf) - 'Early Downward Trends in Neurodevelopmental Disorders Following Removal of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines', David A. Geier, BA, and Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, vol 11, no 1, Spring, 2006



External links

  • attorneyaccess.net- 'Detailed information information about Dr. Mark Geier'
  • MomsAgainstMercury.org - 'A Shot in the Dark: Doctors Question Flu Shot Statistics', Kelly O'Meara (2004)
  • MomsOnAMissionForAutism.org - Letter from Congressman Dave Weldon, M.D., to the CDC
  • Autismone.org - A large group of scientists and parents investigate the cause and treatment of the autism epidemic.'
  • nomercury.org - 'A comprehensive site documenting the cause of the autism epidemic and the government's lack of dealing with it.'
  • IOM.edu - 'Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism', US Institute of Medicine (May 17, 2004)
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