Mark Robin Geier (born 1948) is an American former physician and controversial professional witness who testified in more than 90 cases regarding allegations of injury or illness caused by vaccines.
[2] 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.
[9] He is currently a self-employed geneticist and along with his son David, he operates several organizations from his private address in Maryland, including the Institute for Chronic Illness and the Genetic Centers of America.
[10] 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.
"[11] Geier and his son have published several speculative articles about a possible link between autism spectrum disorders and vaccines that contain thimerosal, generating some controversy.
[12] 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".
Mark Geier has called Lupron "the miracle drug" and the Geiers have marketed the protocol across the U.S.[14] 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.
[18] 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.
"[21][22] 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.
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.