Vaccine Researcher Trying To Debunk Measles-Autism Claims Extradited To US On CDC Fraud Charges

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A researcher who co-authored papers that he and others said undercut claims that measles vaccination causes autism has been extradited to the United States on fraud charges 15 years after he was charged.

Poul Thorsen, 65, a Danish national, was transported from Germany to the United States on May 7 and arraigned on charges of federal wire fraud and money laundering, according to court filings and U.S. prosecutors.

A judge ordered Thorsen held without bail after he pleaded not guilty in a federal courtroom in Atlanta.

Thorsen is accused of stealing more than $1 million in grant money from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Thorsen was working as a visiting scientist at the CDC in the 1990s when he convinced officials to award a grant to Denmark. The CDC awarded more than $11 million to Danish government agencies from 2000 to 2009 to study any relationship between autism and vaccines, among other matters. In 2002, Thorsen moved to Denmark and became the grant’s principal investigator—the person in charge of administering the money the CDC was providing for research.

Thorsen allegedly went on to submit papers that listed fake expenses, according to charging documents. The papers resulted in Aarhus University transferring money to accounts that officials believed belonged to the CDC, but were actually Thorsen’s personal accounts.

Thorsen is accused of using the money to buy, among other purchases, a home in Atlanta and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

“Poul Thorsen allegedly stole more than $1 million in federal grant money by submitting fabricated invoices and diverting funds to his personal bank accounts,” U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said in a statement.

“Thorsen’s extradition reinforces a core principle: individuals who are accused in an indictment of defrauding the American people and misusing federally funded research will be pursued wherever they flee,” added Kelly Blackmon, special agent in charge at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General.

A lawyer representing Thorsen did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.

Thorsen was originally charged in 2011. He had remained a fugitive until being arrested in Passau, Germany, on June 4, 2025.

In 2026, German authorities agreed to extradite Thorsen to the United States.

Thorsen has co-authored dozens of papers, including a study that researchers said showed that children who received a measles, mumps, rubella vaccine were less likely to be diagnosed with autism compared to children who did not receive the vaccine.

None of the papers appeared to have any markings noting the charges against him as of May 11.