He has published a number of studies that have since been retracted.
By Erika Edwards and Brandy Zadrozny
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to hand over multiple sets of vaccine safety data to a discredited researcher with a history of spreading misinformation that vaccines cause autism, according to two sources familiar with the plan. Both learned about the matter during recent meetings at the CDC but were not authorized to speak about it publicly.
David Geier, who shows up in the Department of Health and Human Services’ directory as a “senior data analyst,” will reportedly analyze the data. Geier has repeatedly claimed that vaccines cause autism — a link that’s already been fully debunked.
“If this individual is involved, then it draws into immediate question the validity of any analysis that comes out of this work,” said a former CDC official who was told of the plan before recently leaving the agency.
Dr. Richard Besser, president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a former acting CDC director, called Geier a “deeply irresponsible choice” to lead this effort as he has “no medical degree and a long history of pushing discredited theories about vaccines and autism.”
“Families affected by autism deserve credible research efforts that explore legitimate potential preventable causes of and treatments for autism,” Besser said in a statement. “They are not helped when our tax dollars and research funds are wasted on rehashing a question that has already been answered.”
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