WSJ Article---anyone read about the 2nd child who died from lead poisoning??

March 5, 2006

Another member form another group was gracious to forward this article to me.

Does anyone know about the child who died from lead poisoning & chelation??? I

would be very interested in knowing more.

Jackie---

March 2, 2006 9:34 p.m. EST

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CDC Links Deaths to Lead Treatment

Associated Press

March 2, 2006 9:34 p.m.

ATLANTA -- A drug that is sometimes used to treat lead poisoning -- and is

also believed by some parents to be effective against autism -- caused the

deaths of two children last year, the government said Thursday.

One youngster was autistic; the other had lead poisoning.

The deaths mark the first documented link between a chelation drug and

cardiac arrest in children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. Both children were treated with a product called Endrate.

CDC officials are also looking into the 2003 death of a 53-year-old woman

in Oregon who was given chelation therapy by a practitioner of natural medicine.

Brown, chief of the CDC's Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch, said

hospital pharmacies should consider whether stocking Endrate is necessary, given

its risks and the availability of other treatments.

The maker of Endrate, Hospira Inc., had no immediate comment.

Chelating agents are chemical compounds, injected or given orally, that

latch on to metals in the body and carry them out through urine or feces.

Chelation is commonly used for lead poisoning.

Some doctors have used chelation to treat autism, believing mercury or

other heavy metals cause the condition's symptoms. However, medical evidence

does not support that belief, and the drug is not approved for that use, CDC

officials said.

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