Former CDC Scientist to Admit Fraud Over Autism Grant, Casting Doubt on Vaccine Findings

Poul Thorsen, a former scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention renowned for research refuting a link between vaccines and autism, is expected to enter a guilty plea next week on multiple felony counts. The charges, originally filed in 2011, include two wire-fraud and nine money-laundering counts related to more than $1 million in CDC grant money earmarked for autism and public-health studies, which prosecutors say he spent on a house, two automobiles and a motorcycle.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Kitchens confirmed the plea deal, and the indictment also references unnamed co-conspirators, suggesting a broader investigation. Independent vaccine-safety researcher Vibeke Manniche warned that the financial misconduct raises doubts about the validity of Thorsen’s scientific conclusions, questioning whether data may have been manipulated. Author James Grundvig, who has written about the case, praised the swift action by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and noted Thorsen’s likely motivation to avoid a harsher sentence. The article also referenced other contentious vaccine-safety studies, including a shelved analysis by Dr. Marcus Zervos linking childhood vaccination to higher rates of chronic conditions, underscoring ongoing controversy in the field.