Re: Chelation death raises debate

January 7, 2006

Ya know, a lot of these kinds of articles just really slant things a

certain way.

This sentence struck me:

" The U.S. Food and

> Drug Administration has approved chelation for treatment of heavy

metal

> poisoning, but not to treat autism. "

Isn't that what those of us that chelate do? We treat our kids for

heavy metal poisoning?

Yes, fact is that heavy metal poisoning and autistic behaviors are

probably linked. But I for one am not pursuing chelation to treat

autism itself, I am pursuing it to reduce that ridiculous heavy metal

burden that my kiddo is carrying around.

Am I missing something? Or is the media continuing to propagate a

witch hunt on those of us that pursue biomed...

>

> Death raises debate

>

> http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-

review/trib/regional/s_411262.html

>

> By Keat

> <bkeat@t...>

> or

> TRIBUNE-REVIEW

> /Saturday, January 7, 2006/

>

> A new ruling that a controversial drug therapy for autistic

children was

> responsible for the death of a

>

> 5-year-old Monroeville boy is likely to intensify debates about the

> treatment's safety and effectiveness.

>

> The County Coroner's Office ruled that Abubakar Nadama

suffered

> cardiac arrest because of an injection of EDTA, a chelation therapy

drug

> administered to him in October by Dr. Roy E. Kerry at the Advanced

> Integrative Medicine Center in Portersville.

>

> Chelation treatment is designed to rid the body of heavy metals.

>

> Therapy supporters believe autism can be caused by heavy metal

> toxicity, particularly from mercury once used in a preservative in

> childhood vaccinations.

>

> That assertion has been refuted scientifically, said Dr.

Myers, an

> autism expert who specializes in neurodevelopmental pediatrics at

> Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Montour County. The U.S. Food

and

> Drug Administration has approved chelation for treatment of heavy

metal

> poisoning, but not to treat autism.

>

> " The people who don't believe in bio-medical approaches are going

to

> say the kid was murdered, that the doctor should have his license

> revoked, " said Waeltermann, founder and director of the

> Pittsburgh-based national support group AutismLink. " And the people

that

> do believe in it are going to say it's one isolated case, this

doesn't

> prove anything. "

>

> The County District Attorney's Office said a coroner's

inquest will

> be scheduled to determine if criminal charges are warranted.

>

> Nadama's family could not be reached for comment. Kerry declined to

> comment.

>

> Allegheny County Deputy Coroner Ed Strimian, who performed the

> autopsy on Nadama, said there is a direct correlation between the

> EDTA and the lack of oxygen to the brain and the heart muscle

damage.

>

> Myers said it is the first case he knows of in which chelation was

> directly linked to the death of an autistic person. He hopes

Nadama's

> death and the coroner's ruling will serve as a warning.

>

> " These are big stakes. This should have an impact, " Myers said. " It

should

> send a message to physicians who are prescribing this type of

treatment

> that something like this can happen. "

>

> Some supporters of the treatment aren't phased by the coroner's

ruling.

>

> Marla Green, of Lower Burrell, said her autistic son has been

taking

> a " natural " oral spray form of chelation therapy for two years.

>

> " We're still comfortable with what we're doing, " she said. " We're

under

> strict doctor's care and we follow up and test him and check him. "

>

> Dan Hollenbeck, of Pine, said his autistic son benefitted

significantly

> from chelation therapy, and, " The other parents in the community

who have

> tried chelation reported very positive results. "

>

> " One child dying from chelation therapy is very unfortunate, but

medical

> treatments are inherently risky, " he said. " It will remain a popular

> therapy. "

>

> Though she is unconvinced as to the safety and usefulness of

chelation

> therapy, Waeltermann said parents are drawn to it by testimonials

from

> people who say their children have been helped or even cured by it.

>

> " I don't think parents should be beat up for wanting the best for

their

> kids, " she said. " When you see something that offers some hope and

> somebody's telling you 'I've done it and it works,' you want to try

it. "

>

> *

>

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>

January 7, 2006

Pharmcos probably spend more advertising dollars in a major newspaper than

do all our listmates combined. The loyalty of senior editors is not

difficult to intuit.

> Ya know, a lot of these kinds of articles just really slant things a

> certain way.

>

> This sentence struck me:

>

> " The U.S. Food and

>> Drug Administration has approved chelation for treatment of heavy

> metal

>> poisoning, but not to treat autism. "

>

> Isn't that what those of us that chelate do? We treat our kids for

> heavy metal poisoning?

>

> Yes, fact is that heavy metal poisoning and autistic behaviors are

> probably linked. But I for one am not pursuing chelation to treat

> autism itself, I am pursuing it to reduce that ridiculous heavy metal

> burden that my kiddo is carrying around.

>

> Am I missing something? Or is the media continuing to propagate a

> witch hunt on those of us that pursue biomed...

>

January 7, 2006

I know, I know. It's all about the money. And we all know that

unfortunately a human life is very cheap in the 'grand' scheme of

stockholder returns, and profit margins.

To preserve some shred of hope though that biomed at some point will

be recognized outside of 'our' particular community as a valuable

tool in the toolkit for treating children with autism, I've got to

keep believing (and fighting for that as well) that somebody will

start doing some honest reporting soon.

While I know that I am on the right track in helping my kiddo (and I

only found out about biomed through my own tenaciousness), so many

parents of newly diagnosed kiddos have no idea re: biomed and no

access to ways to find out. It's those kiddos that I am very, very

worried about (don't get me wrong, if parents have tried biomed and

it didn't work, that's one thing. At least they gave it a try. But

many parents never try because they don't know these options exist,

or because their doctors tell them is all hocus pocus - and this kind

of media reporting feeds right into the 'hocus pocus' and 'these

treatmenst are dangerous' noise)

Petra

>

> Pharmcos probably spend more advertising dollars in a major

newspaper than

> do all our listmates combined. The loyalty of senior editors is not

> difficult to intuit.

>

> > Ya know, a lot of these kinds of articles just really slant

things a

> > certain way.

> >

> > This sentence struck me:

> >

> > " The U.S. Food and

> >> Drug Administration has approved chelation for treatment of heavy

> > metal

> >> poisoning, but not to treat autism. "

> >

> > Isn't that what those of us that chelate do? We treat our kids for

> > heavy metal poisoning?

> >

> > Yes, fact is that heavy metal poisoning and autistic behaviors are

> > probably linked. But I for one am not pursuing chelation to treat

> > autism itself, I am pursuing it to reduce that ridiculous heavy

metal

> > burden that my kiddo is carrying around.

> >

> > Am I missing something? Or is the media continuing to propagate a

> > witch hunt on those of us that pursue biomed...

> >

>

January 7, 2006

We were told by the developmental pediatrician who diagnosed Olivia with autism

that the only treatment was ABA and nothing else really worked. We were is such

a bad place. The research I did was confusing. It was not until a friend met

another mother who was spreading the word about biomed that we even knew it

existed. We are eternally grateful to her and to all of you! Who knows where

we'd be right now! I try to " pay it forward " all the time to let other families

know there are alternatives available.

Donna