RFK Jr.’s hiring of controversial analyst ignites firestorm over “lost” vaccine data recovery
By willowt // 2025-06-10
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  • RFK Jr. appoints controversial David Geier to recover “lost” vaccine safety data from CDC’s VSD system amid transparency push.
  • Critics blast Geier’s qualifications, citing past disciplinary actions, while allies defend his unique expertise and decades of vaccine research.
  • Controversy hinges on public access to CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), which has been tightly controlled for over two decades, sparking accusations of fraud and secrecy.
  • Revelations of CDC’s alleged destruction of early autism-linked vaccine data in 1999 fuel calls for transparency and independent oversight.
  • Paternalism in healthcare and long-standing fights over vaccine mandates loom large as HHS seeks to rebuild trust through open data and community-driven health solutions.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ignited a national debate by appointing David Geier, a data analyst with a contentious professional history, to oversee efforts to recover missing vaccine safety data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) beleaguered Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). The initiative, framed as a linchpin of Kennedy’s transparency agenda, has drawn sharp criticism from medical regulators and federal lawmakers but fierce defense from autism advocates and independence-minded researchers. Geier’s task involves reassembling datasets from the VSD, a CDC-managed partnership with 13 healthcare systems, used to study vaccine side effects. The CDC has acknowledged gaps in its VSD records, prompting Kennedy to contract Geier under terms that promise to depersonalize and publicly release the data. “All future HHS studies on vaccine safety will be transparent,” Kennedy declared on social media, citing plans to “restore CDC’s commitment to gold-standard science.” However, criticism has focused on Geier’s lack of a medical degree and a 2012 legal ruling in Maryland where he was fined $10,000 for practicing medicine without a license at his late father’s clinic. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) labeled him a “fraudster,” while others note his role in early research linking mercury in vaccines to developmental disorders. Kennedy framed Geier’s selection as necessary given the CDC’s documented underhanded tactics to suppress researchers. In a fiery Twitter thread, he exposed claims that CDC staff sabotaged access to VSD data dating back to 1999, when an internal study allegedly found a 2.68x increased risk of autism among vaccinated children. After Congress ordered CDC to grant independent researchers like Geier access, Kennedy asserts, CDC retaliated with “windowless rooms, armed guards and fabricated misconduct charges.”

The Geier paradox: Decades of controversy, unique expertise and institutional backlash

Geier, 57, has spent 30 years researching vaccines alongside his physician father, with 200 published papers and testimony before the National Academy of Medicine. While often labeled an “anti-vaccine activist,” Geier defends his work as evidence-based. A 2019 peer-reviewed paper he co-authored on measles vaccine efficacy drew praise from CDC’s former immunization director, Walter Orenstein, who later skeptically dismissed his credibility. Senator Hassan and others question Geier’s qualifications, citing his 2012 disciplinary case. However, a later court found CDC-aligned actors acted with “actual malice” toward Geier, awarding $2.5 million in compensation. Kennedy calls Geier the “only living independent researcher” with VSD access after CDC’s Kafkaesque efforts to block outsiders. “The CDC spends millions on this VSD but treats it like a classified weapon,” Kennedy wrote. “We’re auditing every line of code to find the data they say is ‘lost.’ If the numbers go away because policymakers don’t like the results, that’s fraud.” Rep. Dan Burton’s 2002 congressional probes revealed CDC’s sabotage tactics, including assigning Geier “monitors” to hinder data retrieval and erasing hard drives. A former CDC official admitted data-laundering in sworn depositions, Kennedy claims.

Autism advocates and parents turn to unconventional science

The political firestorm intersects with emotional battles on the ground. At recent autism health summits, advocates like Tracy Kብ (name partially redacted) recounted her son Noah’s regression after an MMR shot at age one. His journey mirrors decades of community outrage over delayed diagnoses, food toxicity concerns and institutional stonewalling — a narrative Geier’s findings have subtly amplified. “As a mother, I had to learn to filter out lies and trust my own eyes,” said Kብ, referencing Noah’s gluten-free diet and holistic protocols. Her book, Warrior Mom, details financial struggles to fight insurance companies and professional isolation after questioning vaccines. Similar stories underpin Kennedy’s push to depersonalize VSD data, allowing parents and researchers to pinpoint patterns in neurodevelopmental disorders. A running theme at nontraditional conferences like Autism One (exited the space in 2025) has been the role of environmental toxins and underfunded causal research. While Geier’s work stops short of explicitly linking vaccines to autism, Kennedy insists “the raw VSD data will speak for itself.”

Why the VSD controversy matters: Trust, science and public health

The debate over Geier and the VSD reflects decades of distrust between independent scientists and federal agencies. In 2005, the National Academy of Medicine urged greater VSD transparency, but CDC reportedly destroyed records or isolated datasets into inaccessible “dark sites.” Kennedy’s team argues that open access will reveal over 150 peer-reviewed studies alleging vaccine-autism connections — contrary to CDC’s official stance. Critics counter that Geier’s methods lack rigor, with some calling his research a “parasitic enterprise” on parental desperation. For advocates, the stakes are personal. “When CDC destroys data, it’s like burning Noah’s medical records,” said one parent activist. “We’ll keep fighting.”

The path forward: Can transparency and science coexist?

As Geier’s team begins sifting through VSD databases, Kennedy’s HHS aims to launch 24/7 public access to datasets by early 2026. Critics worry the effort may unravel given existing legal hurdles and corporate resistance. Yet supporters see municipal efforts like Vaccine Healthcoin, a blockchain-secured data-sharing platform promoted at Autism Summits, as models for decentralized systems to bypass current CDC gatekeeping. “The CDC lost the plot,” Kennedy declared. “But if we make data an open-source asset, we’ll find answers — and restore faith in science.” Those answers could reshape public health, though the journey is unlikely to quiet the thunderous clash between credentialed expertise and grass-roots skepticism. Sources for this article include: YourNews.com TheEpochTimes.com X.com
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