Danish Fugitive Poul Thorsen, a Vaccine Researcher, Is Extradited to the U.S. Will his Autism studies finally be retracted?
Thorsen's research for the CDC in the early 2000s is still used to deny the vaccine-autism link.
On May 7, 2026, Dr. Poul Thorsen was flown, wearing handcuffs and in federal custody, from Germany to the U.S. He’s the Danish scientist the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employed in the 2000s to exonerate thimerosal-containing vaccines, and the MMR vaccine, from the rise of autism in the United States.
Thorsen, who fled to Europe 15 years ago, is accused of stealing $1 million in CDC grant money for autism and genetics research. According to Georgia authorities, Germany agreed to extradite Thorsen earlier this year.
Thorsen, 65, was arrested last year in Germany after evading arrest in Denmark for over fifteen years. German authorities discovered an Interpol notice indicating that he was wanted.
In April 2011, Thorsen was indicted by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on 22 counts of wire fraud. He fled to Europe before he could be arrested and has been a wanted man ever since.
Thorsen had been working as a gynecologist at a medical practice in Middelfart, Denmark, and somehow evaded capture until Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became Secretary of HHS and re-invigorated the effort to bring him to justice.
Germany’s Der Spiegel headlined its coverage last week, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nennt ihn »dunklen Zauberer«, Deutschland will ihn ausliefern” (Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls him a “dark wizard,” Germany wants to extradite him.)
Thorsen is being held in detention in Atlanta and will face federal charges for wire fraud and money laundering.
“Poul Thorsen allegedly stole more than $1 million in federal grant money by submitting fabricated invoices and diverting funds to his personal bank accounts,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, as quoted in a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia. “International fugitives who think they can avoid responsibility for serious federal crimes by living overseas are wrong. Due to the unwavering persistence of my office and our law enforcement partners, Thorsen has been extradited to the United States and will face justice in federal court.”
According to author and investigator James Ottar Grundvig, Thorsen traveled freely around Denmark and all of Scandinavia, and even purchased a second home in Sweden, after his indictment and after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Previous administrations did not appear interested in pursuing Thorsen, but Grundvig, author of Master Manipulator, easily located Thorsen living openly, apparently without concern of being captured in Denmark.
“The master manipulator behind the CDC fraudulent autism and vaccine studies is no longer on the lam,” Grundvig told The MAHA Report. “HHS Secretary Kennedy now has the leader of CDC’s corruption in custody. Will Thorsen cooperate? Will he expose his old-guard collaborators? The 22-count indictment and his age – 65 – says he will. It is time to name names.” Grundvig added, “An entire generation of vaccine-injured children who are scarred for life, are waiting for the truth to emerge.”
Thorsen is accused of using CDC money to purchase a house in Georgia, two cars, and a motorcycle. He also allegedly used the agency’s money to fuel his organization, the North Atlantic Neuro-Epidemiology Alliance (NANEA). The purpose of NANEA’s research was to take health data from Denmark – not America – to conduct studies to determine whether vaccines were behind the rise in autism in the U.S.
NANEA was known to throw extravagant, catered parties in Denmark, where expensive liquor flowed.
As I detailed in our August 8, 2025 article, Aluminum, Vaccines, and the Wild Boys From Denmark, Thorsen’s organization lived the high life. And the NANEA researchers had exclusive access to Denmark’s autism data.
U.S. researchers do not have access to Danish medical data because of laws restricting access to foreigners in that country. Back in the 2000s, the CDC needed Thorsen, NANEA and Danish data.
Why American public health data was not used begs a lot of questions.
Thorsen’s NANEA no longer exists but it became the template of the Danish research on environmental causes of autism and other chronic diseases. His research buddies have continued to receive CDC research money and enjoy extensive coverage in U.S. legacy media outlets despite the tainted legacy of Thorsen’s research racketeering.
At NANEA, Thorsen’s team included Anders Hviid, the lead author of last year’s paper that once again used health data from Denmark to claim that aluminum in vaccines is not linked to autism and other chronic health conditions.
Last year, Kennedy wrote an editorial in the TS News entitled “Flawed Science, Bought Conclusions: The Aluminum Vaccine Study the Media Won’t Question,” and called for a retraction of Hviid’s aluminum paper.
Danish research recently emerged with another paper exonerating Tylenol in the increase in autism. Autism Speaks, which has a history of denying the autism epidemic, and all non-genetic causes for the disorder,while providing cover for Big Pharma, immediately published an article supporting the Danish Tylenol paper.
In April, Kennedy criticized the Danish Tylenol paper on X, writing,“The study is a garbage study; it should be retracted.” Kennedy noted that the study took its data solely from prescriptions, which he said limited the scope of women who took acetaminophen. In the U.S., Tylenol can be purchased over the counter.
Kennedy is not alone in criticizing Danish research as this article, What’s Wrong with “The Danish Study”? from Science, Public Health Policy and the Law, clearly enumerates.
Good information on the link between Tylenol and Autism is available in Dr. William Parker’s Tylenol and Autism.
The CDC has a history of using Danish research to produce papers to exonerate pharmaceutical companies from accusations that their products lead to spikes in autism rates and other chronic childhood illnesses. Pro pharma media and often promote Danish research, ignore the history of Thorsen’s research racketeering and the manipulation of shady data that is restricted from anyone who is not a resident of Denmark.
Thorsen’s NANEA research team produced a series of papers in the early 2000s which were used by the CDC to claim that vaccines do not cause autism. The research was enormously valuable at that time because 5,000 families had filed claims against the Secretary of HHS in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (the NVICP, otherwise known as the ‘Vaccine Court’), claiming that vaccine injuries triggered their children’s autism.
In a series of decisions by the Special Masters, who adjudicate cases in NVICP, Thorsen and Hviid’s research was used to rule against the families in a proceeding known as the Omnibus Autism Proceedings.
Had HHS lost in those proceedings, the payouts to injured children would have been in the billions. The reputation of vaccines would be forever tarnished.
Unfortunately, the CDC was complicit in using Thorsen’s research to deny justice and compensation for those families who had their cases wrongly dismissed by the illegitimate science that Thorsen produced.
Thorsen’s legacy has tainted the research that Denmark produces on vaccines. Public health authorities and media outlets should stop reporting on Danish research from Thorsen associates as, time after time, the studies produced are flawed and serve only the interests of Big Pharma.
Poul Thorsen now sits in detention in a federal holding facility in Georgia. He will soon face the American justice system.
Will Thorsen disclose damaging information about public health officials who facilitated his corrupt research? Will the mainstream medical associations and the legacy media finally admit that the autism research Thorsen directed was flawed?
We shall see.
This made my day! Finally, someone facing the consequences of their actions. I feel it’s only the beginning, the sea change is excellerating!
Reinstate the ban on direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising in the US. That will help restore media integrity regarding health matters.