Senator Hassan Calls Out HHS Secretary Kennedy for Hiring Fraudster to Relitigate Long-Disproven Theories
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) is calling out Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s reported decision to hire David Geier, an individual with a history of practicing medicine without a license, to relitigate long-disproven links between vaccines and autism.
Senator Hassan is urging Secretary Kennedy to fire Mr. Geier and to invest in the work of qualified scientists at HHS who are advancing research on autism rather than waste taxpayer dollars by hiring fraudsters like Mr. Geier to push baseless theories. Senator Hassan’s push comes as Secretary Kennedy held an event last Wednesday about the importance of finding the cause of autism – during which he made disparaging comments about children with autism – despite the fact that the Trump Administration is actively defunding the health research that has built years of expertise and evidence towards better understanding autism.
“David Geier has directly endangered the lives of children, and he does not belong at a government agency that oversees the health of more than 70 million American children,” wrote Senator Hassan. “David Geier was disciplined by the State of Maryland in 2012 for endangering children’s health by falsely diagnosing and treating medical conditions in children with autism without a medical license.”
“You have reportedly selected David Geier to lead a scientific study relitigating a baseless link between vaccines and autism. Mr. Geier has no qualifications to lead such a study, and decades of rigorous scientific research – studies that have included more than one million children – have shown again and again that childhood vaccines and autism are not linked,” Senator Hassan continued.
“As you hire David Geier, the United States is facing a growing measles outbreak that has sickened nearly 500 children and led to dozens being hospitalized,” Senator Hassan emphasized. “To protect the health of children, and to abide by your stated goals of advancing gold-standard science, I urge you to terminate Mr. Geier’s employment.”
Click here to see the full letter or see text below:
Dear Secretary Kennedy:
I write to express my grave concern regarding your decision to hire David Geier, a vaccine cynic and fraudster, to study a long-debunked theory that vaccines are linked to autism. Mr. Geier not only lacks any scientific qualifications, but he has a track record of harming children and manipulating data to fit his disproven conspiracy theories about vaccine safety. I urge you to protect the health of children in the United States and immediately remove this individual from the Department.
David Geier has directly endangered the lives of children, and he does not belong at a government agency that oversees the health of more than 70 million American children. David Geier was disciplined by the State of Maryland in 2012 for endangering children’s health by falsely diagnosing and treating medical conditions in children with autism without a medical license. David Geier’s father, Dr. Mark Geier, was previously a doctor in Maryland and lost his medical license after parents reported that both Geiers were endangering children with autism by administering quack treatments that were not evidence-based. For example, the Geiers administered a potent medication called Lupron, a testosterone-suppressant approved for prostate cancer and ovarian fibroids, to children with autism, despite these children having no diagnosed conditions that would necessitate this treatment. In other instances, David Geier – who has no medical license or scientific training – performed an ultrasound on a child, falsified medical diagnoses, and ordered more than 20 blood tests for a child.
You have reportedly selected David Geier to lead a scientific study relitigating a baseless link between vaccines and autism. Mr. Geier has no qualifications to lead such a study, and decades of rigorous scientific research – studies that have included more than one million children – have shown again and again that childhood vaccines and autism are not linked. Decades of scientific studies supported by the NIH suggest that both genetic factors and environmental factors may contribute to childhood autism. I urge you to continue investing in this promising research, and to not waste taxpayer dollars to advance Mr. Geier’s pre-conceived conspiracy theories about vaccines.
As you hire David Geier, the United States is facing a growing measles outbreak that has sickened nearly 500 children and led to dozens being hospitalized. Based on decades of research and scientific consensus, medical professionals recommend the MMR vaccine to provide children with strong protection from measles infection. To protect the health of children, and to abide by your stated goals of advancing gold-standard science, I urge you to terminate Mr. Geier’s employment.
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