Misrepresenting Autism: The Geiers, the Lupron, and Vaccine Litigation

Dr. Mark Geier and his son, David Geier, are two rather well-known figures in the annals of litigation about autism as "vaccine injury." Dr. Geier trained as a physician and genetic counselor and has testified almost 100 times in vaccine-related cases presided over by "special masters" in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims; his son has a bachelor's degree in biology. Referring to Dr. Steven Novella on the Neurologica blog refers to the Geiers and others who use alternative biomedical methods to "treat" autistic children as part of an "autism treatment subculture."

As explicated by Kathleen Seidel on the Neurodiversity blog, the Geiers have developed a "treatment" for autistic children called the Lupron protocol. This experimental and unproven "treatment" uses Lupron which is, as Seidel writes:

is a potent anti-androgen used in the treatment of prostate cancer and the chemical castration of sex offenders. Its only approved pediatric use is for the treatment of precocious puberty

Today's Chicago Tribune contrasts the Geiers' characterization of themselves as having "solved the riddle of autism" and their (very unsubstantiated theories) linking autism to the mercury-based preservative thimerosal with criticism about their methods and treatment.

In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics concluded that a Geier study finding a link between vaccines and autism was marred by "numerous conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements."

The following year, the Institute of Medicine concluded in a report that the purported connection between mercury in vaccines and autism did not exist. The government-sanctioned committee of scientists reserved harsh words for the Geiers' work, saying their research was "uninterpretable" and marred by "serious methodological problems."

Abbott Laboratories, which sells Lupron in the U.S., once applied for a patent with the Geiers through a now-defunct joint venture with another drug company, yet never pursued work with them. A spokeswoman for the North Chicago-based company said there was no scientific evidence to justify further research.

Court records show that judges also have become increasingly wary of Mark Geier, who has testified close to 100 times in vaccine-related cases presided over by "special masters" in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In what's commonly called "vaccine court," Geier testifies on behalf of parents seeking compensation for injuries their children allegedly suffered from reactions to thimerosal in vaccines.

In one such case, the special master called Geier's testimony "seriously intellectually dishonest." In another, Geier was termed "a professional witness in areas for which he has no training, expertise and experience."

You can read more about the questionable research of the Geiers here at Pathophilia and at EpiWonk and at good old Respectful Insolence and also from Ben Goldacre. Another article in the Chicago Tribune is about Lupron; the Geiers' claims of it as a treatment for autistic children is referred to as "junk science."

But it is a statement by Dr. Geier in the Chicago Tribune that rankles me, namely:

He predicts that the parents of autistic children will face lives filled with frustration and grief if his theories are not given a fair hearing and his Lupron treatment is not followed. "If we don't do something about these kids that are now filling our school systems, they are not going to die," he testified. "They're going to grow up, and they're not going to work, and they're going to need to be institutionalized, and it's going to be a tremendous strain on our world-leading society."

Federal judges, however, have said Geier is not qualified to make such claims or to treat autistic children. In one case, the judge concluded, "there is no evidence that Dr. Geier has either the training or the background to diagnose autism or to treat autism in any child."

I must take issue with this dead-end, hopeless assessment of autistic children like my own child. First, the fact that "our school systems" are "filling" with students on the spectrum is a sign that we're actually noticing, identifying, diagnosing, these kids and making it a point to provide them with the services and education that is their civii right. Second, Dr. Geier's statement about kids growing up and not "going to work" and needing to be "institutionalized" and being a "tremendous strain on our world-leading society" seems quite short-sighted. If our "world-leading society" is going to be such, we need to keep taking the lead in providing an appropriate education and a full slate of services throughout the lifespan for children with disabilities who are becoming adults. Saying that just because parents have not done this one treatment (which happens to be Dr. Geier's) is to block out the full range of ways to help kids on the spectrum achieve their full potential, from different educational and school programs to therapies such as speech and occupational therapy and much more.

We are doing plenty to help kids on the spectrum, but injections of a drug used in the treatment of chemical castration----I think, rather, not.