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David Geier was previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Capitol Hill on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty | Tasos Katopodis
Notorious anti-vaccine advocate David Geier has begun working at the US Department of Health and Human Services and is seeking access to sensitive vaccine safety data that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously barred him from accessing—at least twice—according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
Geier and his father, Mark Geier, who died in March, are known for peddling the thoroughly debunked falsehood that vaccines cause autism, publishing a long list of dubious articles in low-quality journals that push the idea. In particular, the two have blamed the mercury-containing vaccine preservative, thimerosal, despite numerous studies finding no link. Thimerosal was largely abandoned from vaccine formulations in 2001 out of an abundance of caution.
In 2011, an investigation by the Maryland State Board of Physicians found that the Geiers were misdiagnosing autistic children and treating them with potent hormone therapies in a treatment they dubbed the "Lupron Protocol." Mark Geier was stripped of his medical license. David Geier, who has no medical or scientific background and holds only a bachelor's degree, was disciplined for practicing medicine without a license.
The disciplinary action didn't stop health secretary and fellow anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from hiring David Geier to the health department this year. His employment was initially reported in March by The Washington Post. At the time, reporting indicated that Geier would be involved in leading a federal study on vaccines and autism.
Concerning access
However, in a May 14 Senate hearing, Kennedy clarified Geier's role at the health department in response to questions from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). Kennedy said Geier wasn't hired to do research, but to examine data collected by the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). The project studies long-term vaccine safety data, monitoring for severe and rare side effects, via data harvested from electronic medical records at 13 health care sites nationwide. Kennedy alleges that data is missing from the VSD database, alluding to a long-held conspiracy theory among anti-vaccine advocates that the CDC and officials around the world covered up data linking thimerosal to autism.
Outside researchers can request access to VSD data by submitting study proposals to the CDC. The Geiers have, in the past, gained access. But, they lost that access at least twice, the Journal reported. In 2004, the CDC kicked the Geiers out after officials determined that they had misrepresented their plans for the data when they initially submitted their proposal to the CDC. They were barred again in 2006.
Now an HHS employee, Geier is seeking access to the data once again. The Journal reports that Kennedy has assigned researchers at the National Institutes of Health to assist Geier and that those NIH employees have sent a request to the CDC to hand over all of VSD's data. This request reportedly caused alarm at the CDC and the project's health care sites around the country, which are concerned about protecting the security of private patient data.
It's unclear whether Geier has regained access to the data. But people familiar with the matter told the Journal that Geier aims to reanalyze the CDC's data on thimerosal to try to prove a link to autism. The sources also said that Geier is interested in proving that the CDC is corrupt.
In the May hearing, Kennedy, who also supports the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, defended Geier. Kennedy said that "there has been a lot of monkey business with the VSD” and that Geier is "the only living independent scientist" who has seen the data and can determine if it has been altered. (Hassan interjected that Geier is not a scientist.) Kennedy also falsely claimed that a court overturned the medical board's finding that he had practiced medicine without a license and awarded Geier $5 million.
That did not happen. But Kennedy may have been referring to the fact that Mark Geier filed a lawsuit against the medical board over a 2012 cease-and-desist order that alleged he improperly prescribed medication for himself, his wife, and his son while his medical license was suspended. Mark Geier sued the board, saying the order was malicious because it contained personal information, including the medications Geier had prescribed. A Circuit Court sided with the Geiers, awarding them nearly $5 million in total. But the win and the award were overturned on appeal in 2019.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Capitol Hill on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty | Tasos Katopodis
Notorious anti-vaccine advocate David Geier has begun working at the US Department of Health and Human Services and is seeking access to sensitive vaccine safety data that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had previously barred him from accessing—at least twice—according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
Geier and his father, Mark Geier, who died in March, are known for peddling the thoroughly debunked falsehood that vaccines cause autism, publishing a long list of dubious articles in low-quality journals that push the idea. In particular, the two have blamed the mercury-containing vaccine preservative, thimerosal, despite numerous studies finding no link. Thimerosal was largely abandoned from vaccine formulations in 2001 out of an abundance of caution.
In 2011, an investigation by the Maryland State Board of Physicians found that the Geiers were misdiagnosing autistic children and treating them with potent hormone therapies in a treatment they dubbed the "Lupron Protocol." Mark Geier was stripped of his medical license. David Geier, who has no medical or scientific background and holds only a bachelor's degree, was disciplined for practicing medicine without a license.
The disciplinary action didn't stop health secretary and fellow anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from hiring David Geier to the health department this year. His employment was initially reported in March by The Washington Post. At the time, reporting indicated that Geier would be involved in leading a federal study on vaccines and autism.
Concerning access
However, in a May 14 Senate hearing, Kennedy clarified Geier's role at the health department in response to questions from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH). Kennedy said Geier wasn't hired to do research, but to examine data collected by the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). The project studies long-term vaccine safety data, monitoring for severe and rare side effects, via data harvested from electronic medical records at 13 health care sites nationwide. Kennedy alleges that data is missing from the VSD database, alluding to a long-held conspiracy theory among anti-vaccine advocates that the CDC and officials around the world covered up data linking thimerosal to autism.
Outside researchers can request access to VSD data by submitting study proposals to the CDC. The Geiers have, in the past, gained access. But, they lost that access at least twice, the Journal reported. In 2004, the CDC kicked the Geiers out after officials determined that they had misrepresented their plans for the data when they initially submitted their proposal to the CDC. They were barred again in 2006.
Now an HHS employee, Geier is seeking access to the data once again. The Journal reports that Kennedy has assigned researchers at the National Institutes of Health to assist Geier and that those NIH employees have sent a request to the CDC to hand over all of VSD's data. This request reportedly caused alarm at the CDC and the project's health care sites around the country, which are concerned about protecting the security of private patient data.
It's unclear whether Geier has regained access to the data. But people familiar with the matter told the Journal that Geier aims to reanalyze the CDC's data on thimerosal to try to prove a link to autism. The sources also said that Geier is interested in proving that the CDC is corrupt.
In the May hearing, Kennedy, who also supports the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, defended Geier. Kennedy said that "there has been a lot of monkey business with the VSD” and that Geier is "the only living independent scientist" who has seen the data and can determine if it has been altered. (Hassan interjected that Geier is not a scientist.) Kennedy also falsely claimed that a court overturned the medical board's finding that he had practiced medicine without a license and awarded Geier $5 million.
That did not happen. But Kennedy may have been referring to the fact that Mark Geier filed a lawsuit against the medical board over a 2012 cease-and-desist order that alleged he improperly prescribed medication for himself, his wife, and his son while his medical license was suspended. Mark Geier sued the board, saying the order was malicious because it contained personal information, including the medications Geier had prescribed. A Circuit Court sided with the Geiers, awarding them nearly $5 million in total. But the win and the award were overturned on appeal in 2019.
