UPDATE: WUSA's previous reporting on the Dr. Mark Geier case failed to clearly state the findings against him by Maryland's Board of Physicians when the board made an emergency suspension of the doctor's license.
According to the board's April 2011 report, Geier lied about his credentials, improperly diagnosed children and prescribed potentially dangerous and unproven treatments without proper research. All of these factors were risking serious harm to patients, according to the Board.
Physician's Board hearings are closed due to concerns about medical records privacy, which some Geier supporters object to.
Since WUSA's first report, the mother of one patient responded by saying: "My child's medical records were seized without my consent by licensing board & now I'm being told my testimony will have to be secret. Ironic they can take private medical records and display without prior consent or even notification but I can't tell you what's going to happen in a court hearing."
In Maryland's Administrative Hearing process, judges have the discretion to open hearings. In this case, a request by Geier's attorneys to open the hearing was denied.
However, to suggest the reasons for the Board's findings against Geier are a "secret" is not accurate.
In addition, WUSA failed to completely report that Geier's son David was removed from the State's Autism Commission because he has been charged with practicing medicine without a license.
ORIGINAL STORY:
HUNT VALLEY, Md. (WUSA) -- Secrecy surrounding the emergency suspension of a controversial doctor's Maryland license is continuing during a state administrative law court appeal of the case.
Dr. Mark Geier, who licenses his disputed autism treatment through a nationwide chain of clinics known as the ASC Centers, is fighting to get his Maryland medical license reinstated.
Maryland Board of Physicians issued an emergency suspension of Geier's medical license April 11 after a closed hearing. Geier's legal team argued to have the appeals hearing in a Maryland Administrative Law Court opened to the public. The request was denied.
Geier, based in Silver Spring, Md., is the promoter of a controversial treatment for autism in some boys that includes the use of the powerful hormone suppressant Lupron, a drug that has been used in chemical castrations.
A number of distinguished researchers and doctors call Geier's research, diagnosis practices and treatment sloppy and potentially dangerous.
Geier's son David has been removed from his position on Maryland's Autism Commission.
Even so, Geier has a number of patients' families that swear by the unorthodox treatment.
The secrecy cloaking the Physician's board proceedings and appeals has made it difficult for parents to make their own judgments, according to Jeff Sell, Vice President of the Autism Society of America.
"It's challenging for a parent to sit back and assess what are you going to do when you hear other parents or read on the internet that 'Oh, this stuff's working,'" Sell said.