Testimony of the Faithful · Jul 12, 05:00 PM


Significant Misrepresentations
Mark Geier, David Geier & the Evolution of the Lupron Protocol
(Part Five) • Related articles

During his November 12, 2004 deposition in the vaccine-injury case, Easter v. American Home Products, Dr. Mark Geier was asked:

Q. Have you ever been involved in the diagnosis of autistic children?
A. No, not directly.
Q. Have you ever been involved in the care and treatment of autistic children?
A. Not before this week. Just recently, but not in the distant past…
Q. Do you have any formal training in the field of toxicology?
A. No…
Q. Have you ever been involved in the care or treatment of victims of mercury poisoning?
A. Not until recently.
Q. And what is the recent episode that you’re alluding to?
A. We’re — we presented a new idea on how to treat autism and how to treat mercury poisoning, because these kids aren’t autistic, they’re mercury poisoned. And some people are now trying some of these ideas on some of the children. Although I’m not happy with trying it on children without further research, these people are desperate and there have been some remarkable responses…
Q. Do you have any formal training in pharmacokinetics or toxicokinetics?
A. Just whatever courses I took in my Ph.D. and medical school.

In spite of Dr. Geier’s lack of clinical experience in autism, the treatment of mercury poisoning, toxicology, or pharmacology, in September 2004, he and David Geier filed an application to patent a treatment for autism that incorporated chelation with administration of the drug Lupron. Shortly thereafter, they prepared an article describing the scientific rationale for treating autism by reducing testosterone levels, and submitted it to the journal Medical Hypotheses. The potential importance of steroids in the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders and other disorders involving mercury toxicity concluded with an urgent call for further exploration of its authors’ ideas:

Given the magnitude of the current epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders, it seems imperative that the avenue of potential treatment by manipulation of the steroid hormone pathways be explored immediately.

Dr. and Mr. Geier’s exploration in “manipulation of the steroid hormone pathways” — i.e., pharmaceutical experimentation on autistic children — began immediately, their first subjects recruited from the families of political allies. These allies subsequently assisted them in publicizing the “Lupron protocol,” offering personal testimonials, medical opinions represented as fact, and predictions of efficacy of the experimental treatment in gatherings of individuals who hold the view that autism is a consequence of vaccine damage. Their efforts, combined with those of the Geiers themselves, have contributed to a significant increase in numbers of autistic children treated with Lupron according to Dr. Geier’s recommendations, from a handful in early 2005, to over fifty by the summer of 2006.

The autistic son of anti-thimerosal activist Rev. Lisa Sykes served as the Geiers’ first research subject. Rev. Sykes is associate pastor of Welborne United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia; like Dr. and Mr. Geier, she is associated with the political advocacy group, Coalition for Mercury-Free Drugs, and has become known for her passionate speeches condemning pharmaceutical companies and U.S. vaccination policy. At a recent Washington, D.C. rally, Rev. Sykes proclaimed that “child sacrifice has become commonplace in modern times,” and denounced staff of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Institute of Medicine, and pharmaceutical researchers, calling them “modern day deceivers” who have “surrendered the truth” and are responsible for inflicting autism on millions of American children, including her own son. Rev. Sykes’ name would later be found on the list of members of the Institutional Review Board supervising the study for which she volunteered her son as a subject.

At the 2005 Autism One conference, Rev. Sykes told the story of her son’s recruitment:

I got a call from Mark and David Geier as they were looking at some research, and out the blue, they asked me if I would go and check W[…]‘s testosterone levels. And I was surprised, because I hadn’t heard many people talk about testosterone in regard to autism. The blood test was ordered, and as you can see, the serum testosterone result.

(According to a videotaped interview, the call actually came from David Geier, and he and Rev. Sykes talked into the wee hours of the morning.)

Rev. Sykes’ son was not Dr. Geier’s patient at the time David Geier made the “out of the blue” phone call; that role was filled by Dr. Mary Megson, a Virginia doctor associated with Defeat Autism Now! (DAN), and, like Dr. Geier, an expert witness to plaintiffs in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding. According to Rev. Sykes, the day after her conversation with David Geier, she phoned Dr. Megson to request a testosterone test for her son. After receiving results which showed his testosterone level to be at the high end of the normal range for boys his age, Dr. Megson “learned their protocol and moved forward with it.”

Rev. Sykes described her son’s supposedly premature sexual behavior, and the “symptoms” that led to a diagnosis of precocious puberty and subsequent admnistration of Lupron.

It was noted that he had hair on his legs. I hadn’t paid any attention to it, really; it’s just peach fuzz. He had suddenly sprouted up about two inches, from age seven to age nine. I thought, “Oh, look, he’s getting healthier and he’s growing.” I didn’t realize that it was too early for a major growth spurt in my son, and that that was not health.

Contrary to what Rev. Sykes was led to believe, none of these phenomena are symptoms of precocious puberty or ill health. Testosterone levels in boys vary widely; a reading at the high end of the normal range is still normal. Although premature development of pubic and/or axillary hair is an indication of precocious puberty, the presence of a moderate amount of body hair is not. Masturbation is common and normal in children, rather than a pathology requiring chemical suppression (though autistic children often need extra help learning about discretion and moderation). Two inches’ growth between the ages of seven and nine is indeed a sign of health; one would be concerned if a child did not grow an inch or two over that span of time.

In spite of the absence of visible symptoms of precocious puberty, the boy was diagnosed with the condition and given his first injection of Lupron.

On January 13, 2005, Dr. and Mr. Geier discussed their mercury-testosterone and treatment hypothesis with Teri Small, Delaware representative of Vaccine Liberation and General Manager of the Internet-based Autism One Radio. A transcript of that interview would later be published in the journal, Medical Veritas, of which Mrs. Small is an editor. This journalist’s six-year old autistic son would eventually serve as the Geiers’ second research subject.

Two weeks later, Dr. and Mr. Geier gave a talk at a New York City meeting of the National Autism Association, an organization that promotes the hypothesis that autism is a consequence of vaccine damage, advocates for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines, and supports the interests of plaintiffs in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding. One attendee reported that the Geiers presented as scientific fact their hypothesis that testosterone binds to mercury in the brain and thereby enhances its toxicity; presented as a viable therapy their proposals to enhance chelation through chemical suppression of testosterone in autistic children; presented as a success story their first case study, barely two months in progress; and described Lupron as a benign medication carrying only minimal risks to children.

After reports of the Geiers’ interview and presentation circulated on the Internet, curious parents began to inquire about the “Lupron protocol,” and an informal referral network evolved. A mother described a telephone call with Dr. Geier in which he solicited her son as a research subject, and claimed that high testosterone alone is indicative of precocious puberty.

I have Dr. Geier’s Phone #… I have talked to him. He is a vaccinologist and has done tons of research! He asked me if we wanted to be a part of his research w/ Dr. Mary Megson on the connection of high testosterone (percousious puberty) and how Mercury binds to it. He explains it very well. He is the only doctor who was given permission to view the CDC’s vaccination files! I am currently getting blood tests to prove High testosterone. The Lupron injections are scary to me. It will stop the production of test[osterone] for a time in order to chelate the mercury, taking no longer than a year. This can only be done before puberty. This lupron is covered by insurance! Chelation is not. (April 15, 2005)

She eventually reported that she had spoken with Rev. Sykes, and shortly thereafter with Dr. Geier. After lab results indicated that her son’s reproductive hormone levels were at the high end of the normal range — in other words, within normal range — a bone x-ray was conducted. This test result enabled the boy to “qualify for Lupron,” even though he had no other signs of precocious puberty.

We are starting Geiers protocol this month. My son is nine with a bone age of 12.8 (from hand x-ray) His FSH and LH were in normal range!!!!???? I am in touch w/ someone who has done this protocol for 6 mths. Her son 9+ was non-verbal and now talks in sentences and reads and you can have a conversation with him… In this study their have been no problems w/ lupron. The problems w/ Lupron have been in patients past the age of puberty. (May 8, 2005)
Just had to add this. My son is 9 and his testosterone levels (FSH, LH…) were not indicating precocious puberty. Then we did a bone x-ray (hand) and he had a bone age of a 12.9 year old. With that he qualified for Lupron… The Geiers have a written Protocol that I have. His # is […]. Your son would probably be a perfect candidate. I’m doing the protocol. Tell your hubby that my son did not have hair or a very brown scrotum and he was rx’ed. (June 4-5, 2005)

The May 26-29, 2005 Autism One conference featured two presentations about the “Lupron protocol,” one by Dr. and Mr. Geier, and another by Rev. Sykes and Teri Small. Mrs. Small gave a brief introduction, then Rev. Sykes took the stage. She began by praising Dr. and Mr. Geier, then spoke of how her son had come to be diagnosed with precocious puberty and administered Lupron. She spoke of how Lupron affected his testosterone levels; Dr. and Mr. Geiers’ surprise that the drug had not acted as they had expected it would; their decision to increase the dose, and augment it with the drug Androcur. (The pharmaceutical regimen will be discussed in greater detail in a separate installment in this series.) Rev. Sykes spoke of her son’s physical and behavioral improvements, all of which she attributed to the drug regimen.

Mrs. Small spoke next. Although she did not indicate how her son was recruited into the Geiers’ Lupron study, medical charts showed that he was a patient of DAN! doctor James Neubrander of Edison, New Jersey. Like Rev. Sykes, Mrs. Small described her son’s lab test results, which were at “the very top of the range for serum testosterone” — that is, within the normal range. She made mention of premature physical development, but did not describe x-rays, MRI, or other testing that would be expected in a diagnosis of precocious puberty. Like Rev. Sykes, Mrs. Small reiterated the Geiers’ rationalization for discounting testosterone tests as inherently untrustworthy, even as they rely upon them to substantiate a diagnosis.

This test, as Lisa was alluding to, may underestimate the true amount of testosterone in their bodies. Because of the clumping of testosterone, the assay has no way of evaluating whether the testosterone was clumped or not.

Throughout their presentation, both mothers — neither of them doctors — made many assertions about physiology, metabolic function and pharmacology that appeared to be beyond the range of their own expertise; much of the discussion of scientific subjects used language similar to that used by Dr. and Mr. Geier in their articles.

Autism One was followed by another lecture by the Geiers sponsored by the National Autism Association. Rev. Sykes further publicized the Lupron protocol in a June 7, 2005 interview on Autism One Radio.

Vaccine-injury lawyer Clifford Shoemaker posted the Geiers’ Medical Hypotheses article on his website, linked from a laudatory web page about Dr. Geier, who has been retained as an expert witness by many of Mr. Shoemaker’s clients.

Unlike those in the government who want to bury their heads in the sand with comments like, “We don’t know what caused the autism epidemic, but we’re sure it wasn’t the mercury in vaccines,” Dr. Geier is spending his time trying to find ways to treat children with autism. Here is his hypothesis, and so far he is batting 1000% Watch for more exciting developments.

Like Rev. Sykes, Mr. Shoemaker would later be identified as a member of the Institutional Review Board that retroactively approved the Geiers’ experimentation with Lupron.

Dr. and Mr. Geier presented their mercury-testosterone hypothesis and Lupron protocol again, this time at the November 2005 National Autism Association conference. A video recording of that talk and a testimony by Rev. Sykes were soon published on FAIR Autism Media, a website showcasing the work of researchers, health-care practitioners and political activists who equate autism with vaccine injury. FAIR proprietor Erik Nanstiel (the Chicago-area father quoted in On Questionable Terms) announced the availability of Rev. Sykes’ video on several online discussion lists.

FAIR Autism Media has just posted a new interview with the Reverend Lisa Sykes, a mother of a recovering autistic boy… In this interview, Rev. Sykes discusses her introduction to autism, becoming an activist and how she came to having her son treated using the Geiers’ “lupron” protocol to more effectively remove heavy metals by first lowering W[…]‘s abnormally high testosterone levels. Most fascinating is her account of how the protocol was administered, and what discoveries were made, including W[…]‘s amazing progress! (January 1, 2006)

Parents responded effusively to Rev. Sykes’ testimonial, and excitement about the “Lupron protocol” quickly spread, including among parents whose autistic children were entering puberty on a typical schedule.

Anyone else excited about this new protocol? I am going to my local pediatrician tomorrow to have my son’s testoterone levels checked through a blood sample. We have an appointment with our DAN Dr. Megson at the end of the month and I want to have them in hand to ask her about it. She is treating Lisa Sykes’ son. Has everyone watched her new video series on Autism Media? It’s great. Very hopeful. (January 3, 2006)
I would like the information on this. I think Rev. Sykes mentioned her son’s level of testosterone was 25, well I checked A[…]‘s labs and hers was 22 last year. She is now really hitting puberty at 11 and I feel this could be a big breakthrough for us. Also if anyone knows of Dr. Geiers phone number or email address please send. (January 3, 2006)
I suggest you watch the following Dr. Geier video. The video of Reverend Sykes is also amazing. (March 21, 2006)

Erik Nanstiel soon emerged as a ubiquitous promoter of the “Lupron protocol” and self-appointed spokesman for the Geiers. On numerous mailing lists and message boards, Mr. Nanstiel has provided detailed accounts of his daughter’s assessment and participation in the Geiers’ study. His posts include references to his uncertainty about the study’s duration; to Dr. Geiers’ decision to administer Lupron in amounts that exceed the doses recommended by its manufacturer; and to Dr. Geier’s decision to abandon the chelation portion of the protocol while continuing to aggressively suppress children’s reproductive hormone function.

My daughter just went through all the blood testing to see if she’s a candidate for the Geier’s protocol. I’ll have the results in a few weeks… I’ll keep everyone posted. (January 14, 2006)
We’re treating her high testosterone under the Geiers’ “lupron” protocol, since their discovery that high testosterone helps to trap mercury in the body. We know she’s high in mercury from her toxicology tests these last five years… and we’ve had limited success with trans-dermal chelation. Getting her testosterone down will help us to chelate her more effectively. So far, my daughter has had no ill effects from this protocol. If anything, she’s more affectionate, although any real benefits aren’t expected for a few for months of this lupron and chelation approach. Since her participation in this is as part of a study, there’s nothing published on the use of Lupron in adolescent autistics. (March 20, 2006)
They started off using just the Depo shots and consistently found that their effectiveness wore off long before the 28 days was up. (This is discussed in Lisa Sykes’ interview.) So what they found in practice was different from the recommended dose. Only after treating kids for awhile did they switch to the daily sub-cutaneous shots… but found that those, while offering a more consistent dosing… didn’t lower the testosterone quickly enough. I know that they’ve consulted with TAP pharmaceuticals throughout this whole process… and done their research. They’re now finding, clinically, that the protocol is more effective combining the two: the Depo and the Sub-cutaneous. (April 26, 2006)
This poor kid is being put through so much. I hope we can verify that we’re successfully depleting the mercury and lead so we don’t have to do this protocol any longer than is necessary. I’m hoping Lupron therapy won’t be needed after, say, four or five months. (May 11, 2006)
She’s undergoing the Geier protocol now, with Lupron…and doing well. VERY well… Her gut has improved dramatically (after five years of diarrhea… but that’s also in part due to SCD diet, Valtrex, curcumin and coconut Kefir). But we DEFINITELY noticed gut improvement with the lupron. Make no mistake. Testosterone is my daughter’s sworn enemy. It took five years of trying everything else before we discovered what was holding her back… We’ll know better if Lupron is her magic bullet in a number of months. (May 22, 2006)
The Geiers have recommended we take M[…] off chelation…for now. When we reported that the chelator caused regression away from the gains we got with Lupron alone… they looked at her chart and said that, consistently, her urinary porphyrins have been lower than most kids they treat. They think that it’s possible (POSSIBLE) that M[…]‘s two years of DMPS chelation has depleted most of her toxic metals. We think Her regression could have been a result of the chelator feeding yeast in her gut and affecting nutrient absorption … and possibly not so much because it was stirring up a lot of heavy metals. They also mentioned to me that a LOT of the kids they treat are doing wonderfully on Lupron alone… without the chelator. So we’re going to try it. Just do Lupron, while monitoring her porphryin levels to make sure they don’t go up. I’ll be able to report more in a few weeks once we’ve been off the chelator awhile. (May 19, 2006)
While my daughter was not “technically” precociously-pubescent… she had abnormally high testosterone… enough to put a boy her age into precocious puberty. Conversely, she had NO estrogen, which was strange. Using Lupron as a method to detox heavy metals is a novel use of the drug… but really that’s just an effect of treating a verifiable medical condition (which is abnormally high testosterone)… This IS still very controversial (because it’s new…and because manipulating hormones in adults has resulted in unwanted side effects. But with children, it’s different). But calling it experimental is to not understand the biochemistry of what is happening… and those answers are coming very quickly now. (June 20, 2006)
Testosterone doesn’t cause puberty in a girl… Estrogen does, but my daughter had NO estrogen (nondetectable levels). She had enough testosterone that would have been normal for a 15 year old boy. So while she technically did not have early puberty… she should NOT have that much testosterone. (June 24, 2006

Mr. Nanstiel has relayed the Geiers’ highly debatable rationale for administering Lupron to autistic children, has offered questionable medical advice regarding supposed symptoms of precocious puberty, and has offered the Geiers’ contact information to many interested parents.

I’d say at least, on the surface, your little guy is exhibiting signs of high testosterone. The Geiers talk about masturbation rather frankly…as does Lisa Sykes with her son… It’s not a waste of time to investigate his testosterone levels. (March 2, 2006)
While many of these kids exhibit with clear signs of precocious puberty… that as a diagnosis is less important than that of high testosterone. As I said, girls with high testosterone and low estrogen won’t technically BE in early puberty. They’re just extremely difficult to chelate. (March 2, 2006)
I’ve heard them say that these testosterone/mercury sheets can be found throughout the body… but I remember them saying that they’re also found in the brain where it is very difficult for the mercury to leave. (March 3, 2006)
The Geiers are maintaining that Testosterone and (organic?) Mercury bind weakly end to end…and then go on to form sheets. The mercury is trapped in these lattices which hamper chelation. They claim to have verified that with x-ray crystallography imaging. (March 20, 2006)
Your son’s testosterone is likely high BECAUSE he’s mercury toxic. (March 20, 2006)
Would you be interested in consulting with Dr. Geier? I could give you his office telephone number. They don’t automatically treat everyone who comes to them. The testing for candidacy is extensive… (April 4, 2006)
The Geiers can have him tested long distance. They PREFER to be able to see the child, because they like to perform one test in person… some abdominal sonogram… but we couldn’t make it out there either. Nevertheless, we had a few consultations over the phone, ordered a huge battery of tests at Labcorp (who works with insurance) and discovered M[…]‘s needs. She’s on the protocol, and we didn’t have to fly to Maryland. Email me off board if interested, and I can give you their office number. (April 5, 2006)
You just call their office manager, Eleanore. She sets up an initial phone consultation, and depending on THAT, they would possibly order a battery of tests. (April 13, 2006)
I’m not saying go out and get Lupron… just that it might be worth investigating with your DAN doctor (or the Geiers, directly) whether your child’s testosterone is abnormally high. It seems to account for much of the aggressive behaviors we see during chelation. (April 18, 2006)
As for the Geiers’ Lupron protocol… it works for any child with abnormally high testosterone levels. (June 20, 2006)

Mr. Nanstiel’s predictions of the potential benefits of the experimental regimens he has chosen for his child are punctuated with Calvinist disparagement and conspiracist suspicion of parents who determine that their own children have different needs, or who are more skeptical than he of Dr. and Mr. Geiers’ claims.

While many children can make small gains over time… children who get treated improve much more quickly… depending on how thorough their DAN doctor is with testing/follow-up, etc. and how diligent the parents are. I know because I’ve seen it. I’ve listened to their parents and I’ve met the children who have recovered. None of the recovered children were UNTREATED. (February 27, 2006)
I don’t think you’re a pharma shill. I just think you don’t “get it.” Maybe at one point you tried a half-assed biomedical approach and nothing happened. Fortunately for other children, their parents were more diligent and enjoyed more success. (February 28, 2006)
I’ll repeat myself, just in case you either have a poor memory or selective reading ability: Lupron is an FDA approved drug for the treatment of high testosterone and precocious puberty. Something which my daughter has tested positive for. This is NOT a “treatment for autism,” but a means by which we will more effectively be able to chelate her heavy metals from her system. Her autism will vanish when we can get her body and brain chemistry back on track. (February 28, 2006)
I have heard that companies in the pharmaceutical industry pay folks to put on a disguise and try to sway parents away from the mercury hypothesis and treatments geared toward that. When a parent uninterested in biomedics and chelation just hangs out to heckle those who discuss it… I have to wonder what your motivation really is? (April 27, 2006)

Mr. Nanstiel has frequently written of his close association with the Geiers, who have reportedly kept him up-to-date on the progress of their study — including their retreat from their original assertion that testosterone binds with mercury in the brain. According to Mr. Nanstiel, the Geiers have advised him on how to respond to challenging questions about and criticism of their work — including suggesting that he disclose his daughter’s private medical records to those who remain unconvinced of the utility or safety of the “Lupron protocol.”

BTW, I just got off the phone with the Geiers. I’m planning my trip to take my daughter to Wash. D.C. in April. They got my email showing them Bart Cubbins video “critique” of their lupron protocol. They thought it was pretty funny. They thought the “blah blah blah” comments were hilarious… and the analogy to Dr. Mengele. They also encouraged me to show my daughter’s Labcorp test results if I want to as a tool to engage such ignorance in debate. (February 28, 2006)
I KNOW these guys. I’ve interviewed them three times, I’ve had dinner with them, I correspond with them and now I’m taking my daughter to them… (March 3, 2006)
How many kids with autism have they tested for testosterone? I don’t really know. They test every child brought to them. (March 3, 2006)
I imagine you think the Geiers are paying us. Sorry, not a dime. In fact, we paid them a stipend to speak at a lecture we hosted in Chicago last february… you see, we’re all about educating folks. (April 26, 2006)
Dr. [Geier] is a long-time OB/GYN and genetecist. David [Geier] is working toward a PhD in biochemistry. They’ve been studying the mercury/testosterone issue since early 2004, best as I can figure. I’ve read their unpublished paper (written in December) and the early results of their ongoing study are very exciting. (April 27, 2006)
Are they consulting with endocrinologists, etc.? I haven’t asked. But yes, they are using the diagnosis of precocious puberty. And why not? … Why NOT use an FDA-approved drug for treating high testosterone, when high testosterone is the problem? The methods they’re using are very on-label for these drugs. (April 27, 2006)
What they’re attempting to patent is a novel USE for a drug… hey, if I were allowed to patent the combination of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce with Open Pit as a stellar treatment for Pork Ribs… I’d do it. (April 27, 2006)
We interviewed the Geiers last weekend for an update on new case histories and further insights… and they’ve got good things to report. I should have that interview online soon. (May 31, 2006)
Here is what I’ve learned. An editor at the publication that the [Geiers] submitted their paper to removed a portion of David’s byline where he describes himself as a “graduate student” in the department of biochemistry at GWU. It was changed to read “Department of Biochemistry, etc.” incorrectly suggesting that Mr. [Geier] was on the staff of the department… and also incorrectly implying (albeit unintentionally) that the study for which the paper was written was conducted in cooperation with the school. It wasn’t. This was an independent study by Dr. [Geier] and his son, David. The incorrect byline was not the [Geiers]’ fault… The fact is, David [Geier] did not take classes at GWU last term, but he IS still enrolled as a graduate student at the university and will finish his degree. (June 15, 2006)
The testosterone/mercury sheets theory was never more than a theory. As it is, the Geiers have backed down from that as a possible model to explain what they’re observing. It doesn’t really matter if they bind. But they do interact in the body, making mercury much more toxic to the nervous system. It could be that they preferentially store themselves in the same tissues without binding… and would give you the same effect. (June 11, 2006)
The mercury/testosterone sheets was just a theory that isn’t panning out. It was a model they hypothesized to account for an observed interaction between testosterone and mercury…. While the molecular nature of the interaction may not be fully understood in the body… the biochemistry has pointed to some final common pathways that is being illuminated by lab testing. (June 14, 2006)
…the six or seven parents I keep in contact with (to compare notes) all report positive results… (June 23, 2006)

Few other parents have been as effusive as Mr. Nanstiel in their praises of Dr. and Mr. Geier and their “Lupron protocol.” Nonetheless, most biomedically-oriented autism message boards now have one or more members who repeat the Geier’s exaggerated claims of the prevalence of precocious puberty in autistic children; diagnose the condition in response to any mention of a child’s “peach fuzz,” masturbation or aggressive behavior; disseminate “facts” about testosterone and mercury that even the Geiers have abandoned; provide contact information for the Geiers; or rise to their defense when the accuracy of their public statements is challenged.

The results of low FSH and LH with high testosterone mean possibility of brain tumor for standard doctors. However, in the case of certain autistic kids it means mercury is holding on to the testosterone — not brain tumor. (March 15, 2006)
I can say with a great degree of confidence that your child has Precocious Puberty caused by autism… Basically, your child has too much testosterone because the testosterone is trapped within testosterone-mercury sheets. Poor kid is clogged up with testosterone. Listen to Dr. Geier… If you like, I can give you their email and you can talk to them.(June 7, 2006)
Has his testosterone levels been checked? We have been seeing the Geier’s, Dr. Mark, and his son David, and they have explained that kids with autism for some reason have high levels of testosterone. This will lead into precocious puberty (early on set of puberty), thus the masturbation. We have been doing the Geier’s protocol to lower testosterone with Lupron and using oral DMSA. […] As the Geier’s explained it to us, and this is my understanding of it! Testosterone is like a magnet for the mercury! So once these levels are lowered the mercury will be released since there is nothing for it to bind to. (March 20, 2006)
Our son is on their protocol. If you have questions, feel free to call me at the number below. (June 2, 2006)
Mark Geier told me that he’s seen over 100 autistics, and all without exception have had good results. He said some within hours (of Lupron). (April 18, 2006)
That 2 standard deviations off in height (as in he’s taller than where he started out at birth by 2 curves) and 2 std+ smaller in head circumference as well as body hair and interest in genitalia is all abnormal. (March 2, 2006)
Lupron is dangerous if you believe all the BS that people (other doctors hand puppets) are spewing… IMHO Lupron will make the DMSA more efficient in pulling mercury in place of selenium and zinc since it would hopefully release the mercury out of testosterone bound tissues. (June 12, 2006)
Dr G specialises in people to have tried bio med but haven’t had response due to the fact that there is so much testosterone that has clogged up with mercury and is impervious to any chelating agent. Non responders are their biggest section of patients I believe. (June 5, 2006)

It is difficult to comprehend how a doctor with no advanced training in autism, toxicology, pharmacology, or endocrinology, assisted by a young man with no higher professional credential than a B.A. in Biology, could persuade loving parents to subject their growing autistic children to the powerful hormonal inhibitor Lupron, based on little but speculation about the possible causes of autism, and then go forth into the world to encourage others to do the same. It is less difficult to conceive, however, when one considers the “autism-biomed” subculture in which the Geiers and their associates have primarily conducted their publicity and recruitment efforts. This subculture consists of parents who attribute their children’s autism to vaccine injury; doctors and manufacturers who market products and services to these families; lawyers and political activists who encourage parents to seek legal redress for their children’s disability; and an insular, mutually reinforcing minority of academics, many of whom have received substantial research funding from organizations advocating for plaintiffs’ interests, and some of whom are serving as expert witnesses in the Omnibus Autism Proceeding and other vaccine-injury litigation.

Social networks fostered by organizations such as SAFEMINDS, the National Autism Association, Autism One, Defeat Autism Now! and Generation Rescue, and within online newsgroups devoted to discussion of experimental medical and nutritional treatments for autism, provide a fertile environment for recruitment by medical entrepreneurs and their boosters. In this world, the vaccine-autism causation hypothesis is promoted as near-proven scientific fact; an “us against them” attitude of righteous indignation against “mainline” researchers, doctors and public health professionals is cultivated; parents and lawyers who first attributed autism to vaccine damage and initiated litigation are elevated to heroic status; and individuals whose litigation-driven scholarship supports vaccine-injury plaintiffs’ political and legal agenda are lionized. As blogger Not Mercury has observed, the “cult of autism-biomed” has given birth to a “star system” in which certain individuals command instant respect and authority. Within this “star system,” Dr. and Mr. Geier loom large as the only researchers whose epidemiological analyses consistently support a causal connection between vaccines and autism. Parents’ gratitude for the Geiers’ services to vaccine-injury plaintiffs is likely to influence their evaluation not only of their claims regarding autism epidemiology, but also regarding its treatment.

The parents most actively involved in promoting the “Lupron protocol” offer a fortuitous combination of skills and advantages to Dr. and Mr. Geier. It is convenient that the first subject in their Lupron study comes from the family of a minister with well-honed skills in communication and oratory, known for cloaking vaccine-injury litigants’ arguments in inspirational garb, and castigating medical and public health professionals as passionately as do the Geiers. It is convenient that she was trusting enough to consent to have blood drawn from her son — a child who displayed no visible symptoms of precocious puberty — for a medically-unnecessary testosterone test, simply to satisfy her friends’ curiosity. It is convenient that this first “satisfied customer” is either so scientifically naïve or so unconcerned about holding her fellow travelers to the same scientific research standards that bind the individuals and institutions she condemns, that she would agree to serve on an IRB controlled by the principal investigators in the study being supervised by that IRB — a study in which her own son is a participant.

It is convenient that the Geiers’ second research subject should be the son of a radio broadcaster associated with an organization that from year to year provides a live venue and audiences for the Geiers’ presentations, and co-editor of a journal dedicated to criticism of vaccines and public health policy — a signficant source of Dr. and Mr. Geier’s livelihood.

It is convenient that the Geiers have found yet another subject in the child of a videographer willing to host their presentations online at no charge, while soliciting tax-deductible donations for the site’s maintenance; provide free publicity for the “Lupron protocol” on discussion groups all over the Web; and engage in debate with those who are not persuaded by their scientific arguments or dazzled by their sweeping claims.

It is convenient, too, that a legal colleague of the Geiers should be willing to tout their “revolutionary method for treating mercury poisoned children,” imply that it is “1000%” effective, and describe Dr. Geier as “an American hero!” It is even more convenient that that same colleague should be willing to join the Geiers’ home-brewed “Institute for Chronic Illnesses” and its IRB, in spite of the conflicts of interest that would disqualify most of its members from supervising the very study the IRB was established to oversee.

It is convenient to be stars in the autism-biomed world — especially for self-styled “experts” who seek to test speculative pharmaceutical treatments on disabled children, but refuse to play by the rules governing ethical scientific research.

to Update:
A Republished Article

Comments


  1. “Testosterone is like a magnet for the mercury! So once these levels are lowered the mercury will be released since there is nothing for it to bind to.”

    My God, he really believes all of this crap doesn’t he?

    Just smart enough to sound as if he knows what he’s talking about but not smart enough to question the vultures’ motives and qualifications.

    — notmercury    Jul 12, 06:04 PM    #

  2. As mentioned in their patent applications(s). Geier and Geier base their ludicrous “testosterone sheet” and “testosterone clumping” hypotheses on a single 1968 article in Acta Crystallographica B (Cooper A, Gopalakrishna EM, Norton DA). In this article, the authors created the 2:1 complex of testosterone and mercuric chloride by ”...dissolving equimolar amounts of testosterone and mercuric chloride in minimal hot benzene”.

    In other words, testosterone will bind to mercury (inorganic mercury, mind you) if you mix the two at high concentrations in hot benzene. Not very similar to what happens in the human body, to be sure.

    If anyone needs any more convincing that Geier and Geier are full of baloney (and I’m being nice, since this is a family blog), just read this five-part series by Kathleen.

    Seriously, I can’t decide if these guys are a major health menace or the biomedical equivalent of Laurel and Hardy.

    Prometheus

    — prometheus    Jul 12, 07:04 PM    #

  3. (ooh, a little blog synchronicity here…)
    It’s just about selling things!
    The people who buy into these “cures” think they are seeing treatment results, because they WANT to see them. Give your child this treatment and they will be able to learn and develop normally! Amazingly, children will learn and develop as they get older, for all not everyone follows the same timelines – developmental charts are population averages. Plus, there’s always a percentage of a new drug trial population that will improve because they think they’re taking something useful (the effect from the non-active placebo). Then the problem is propagated because those well-intended but scientifically ignorant people become meme agents, earnestly spreading this false gospel …

    andrea

    — andrea    Jul 12, 07:51 PM    #

  4. Terri Small intoned pretentiously: “This test, as Lisa was alluding to, may underestimate the true amount of testosterone in their bodies. Because of the clumping of testosterone, since the assay has no way of eVALuating whether the testosterone is clumped or not.”

    She sounds like someone who desperately wants to be an expert in something, something she has no clue about.

    Clumped testosterone? Maybe she has that BA in Biology that junior has. Lisa Sykes is a piece of work, too. (Oh, No, 2 inches of growth in 2 years! This can’t be good!)

    Usually, I worry about autistics being naïve, but now I also worry that their parents are.

    — We don't need another "hero"    Jul 12, 08:44 PM    #

  5. Let me see if I’ve got this right:

    1) Testosterone binds mercury, preventing it from being excreted, even with chelation. While bound to testosterone, the mercury continues to exert its toxic effects, all of which, AFAIK, involve binding to sulfhydryl groups on cysteine residues of important peptides. Therefore, a kid can have a high mercury level but test low for it.

    2) Mercury binds testosterone, keeping it out of the bloodstream and sequestered in some intracellular compartment. Therefore, a kid can have a high testosterone levels but test low for it.

    3) Reducing/eliminating the supply of new testosterone somehow causes these already-existing intracellular mercury/testosterone/peptide complexes to dissociate, enabling the mercury to be excreted.

    This is simply the biochemical equivalent of cartoon physics.

    I suspect I know what’s going on with point 3. The loopy-for-Lupron crowd is acting as if they think that Lupron somehow destroys existing testosterone, rather than disrupting the rather lengthy process by which new testosterone is manufactured from cholesterol. But if there were testosterone “trapped” in the body, there would be absolutely nothing Lupron could do about it.

    — ebohlman    Jul 12, 10:20 PM    #

  6. Wow. I had not seen the pieces of this situation composing a coherent array until now. I’m disgusted.

    Maybe someone could suggest to the Geiers that their treatment could be useful for Morgellon’s Syndrome patients. A pseudo-treatment for a pseudo- illness, what could be better? And they could leave the autistic kids out of it.

    — krakatoa    Jul 13, 12:33 AM    #

  7. 2 inches in 2 years would have me seriously worried, really. After all, 2 to 3 inches PER YEAR are the average growth in children that age. The prepubertal growth spurt is more like 3 inches or more in 3 months…

    — Catherina    Jul 13, 02:57 AM    #

  8. I got an email that promised 2 inches in 2 weeks, some sort of lotion I think. Maybe Buttar is involved with that product….

    Anyway, I’m wondering why it wouldn’t make my hands bigger too :-)

    — clone3g    Jul 13, 11:54 AM    #

  9. hey, I liked the laugh-at-BC’s-video quote. I wish I could laugh at the debacle they’ve created.

    I feel so sorry for the kids who are being experimented upon and abused.

    It speaks volumes that people can laugh while they’re actually doing this to kids and their families.

    — Bartholomew Cubbins    Jul 15, 10:59 PM    #

  10. Until I saw this article, I hadn’t really put the whole picture together.

    Now I get it.

    Quacks want to sell stuff, lawyers want to get paid off by the drug companies, and there’s a willing society of marks who have no qualms about throwing a fair amount of money and time to making other people rich.

    Isn’t that what this is REALLY about?

    — anonimouse    Jul 17, 04:23 PM    #

  11. Does anyone have any idea if the OHRP or FDA are aware of this “study”? I’d like to think that if they were they would do something about it.

    — MrsNRogers    Jul 19, 04:40 PM    #

  12. Great article Kathleen but don’t you think you overdid it? Why wasted so much time searching and pouring all the message boards, cutting and pasting the comments to ridicule them? I don’t know about you but I’d rather use that time spent to engage my kid.

    — M&M    Aug 7, 11:19 AM    #