Fact Check: Is David Geier, hired by HHS Secy RFK Jr to lead autism-related study, not a licensed doctor?

WASHINGTON, DC: The Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr hired David Geier, a major player in the anti-vaccine community, in March 2025 to lead a federal study on autism causes, according to Newsweek.

Recently, a claim that Geier is not a licensed medical doctor has emerged on social media. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: David Geier, appointed by RFK Jr to lead autism-related research, is not a licensed medical doctor

In April 2025, posts claiming that David Geier, whom RFK Jr reportedly chose to work on autism-related research, was not a licensed doctor began circulating on social media. 

They added that Geier had a history of unethical medical practices, including administering dangerous hormone treatments to autistic children, according to fact-checking outlet Snopes.

Rep Suzanne Bonamici (D-Oregon) posted on Facebook, "David Geier is neither a doctor nor a scientist; he is a discredited conspiracy theorist and hack researcher who RFK Jr hired to advance his anti-science, anti-vaccine agenda," sharing an article from The Guardian titled, "Autistic people and experts voice alarm at RFK’s ‘terrible’ approach to condition."

Similar claims about Geier circulated on other social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, and Reddit.

The Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis wrote on X, "The man tapped by RFK Jr to run a clinical trial looking to tie vaccines to autism has been charged with practicing medicine without a license, given autistic children a dangerous drug not approved for use in the US & improperly prescribed puberty blockers."

Fact Check: The claims about David Geier are a mixture of true and false information

The claims made regarding David Geier and his appointment to lead federal research on autism causes are partly true and partly false. Geier has indeed never held a medical license and was charged in Maryland with practicing medicine without one, Snopes reported.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services' directory website states that Geier is currently employed by the department as a "senior data analyst."

Moreover, during a May 14 Senate hearing, RFK Jr testified that Geier was not hired to lead autism research but to review historical vaccine safety data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Vaccine Safety Datalink.

Notably, Geier is a controversial figure in the debate over autism and vaccines. CNN described Geier as a "self-proclaimed autism expert who published a since-retracted paper with his father, Mark Geier, purporting to show links between vaccines and autism."

Similarly, the BBC called Geier a "leading vaccine sceptic who was fined by the state of Maryland for practicing medicine without a medical degree or licence and prescribing dangerous treatments to autistic children."

Robert F Kennedy Jr clarifies David Geier's current role at the Department of Health and Human Services

RFK Jr said during a cabinet meeting on April 10, "We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world."

The HHS secretary added, "By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."

During the May 14 Senate hearing, Sen Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) asked RFK Jr about Geier's alleged role in leading autism research at HHS.

The 71-year-old clarified, "We did not hire David Geier to manage autism research at HHS."

He added that Geier's role was to compare current data from the Vaccine Safety Datalink with what he previously accessed in the 2000s, according to Snopes.

"Because it wasn't to run autism research. In 2002, the CDC runs a Vaccine Safety Datalink which is supposed to be the vaccine information for the biggest HMOs that are supposed to allow CDC to have a surveillance system for vaccine injury. It's a backs-up system. The CDC will not let any physicians in there to look at it, or any scientists, independent scientists," RFK Jr said.

He further added, "David Geier is the only living independent scientist who's seen the VSD inside. There's been a lot of monkey business with the VSD, including allegations of fraud. He was hired by an independent contractor — not as an HHS employee — but by an independent contractor, to look at the documents that we were getting to the VSD to see if they conformed with what he saw between 2002 and 2016. And that was the only reason he was brought in."