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Some doctors believe autism is caused by toxic metals in the body, and what children need is chelation therapy to force their bodies to excrete those damaging toxins.
There are just two problems with that.
The first is that there is virtually no credible scientific research to back these doctors up. The second is that the treatment can cause kidney failure.
And James Coman of Chicago is steamed.
His 7-year-old son has autism and was put in the hands of what he considers snake oil salesmen. The Chicago Tribune reports he's suing the doctors who diagnosed and treated his son for metal poisoning without even meeting the boy.
The Tribune featured Coman and his son last year in "Dubious Medicine," a series about autism treatments based on shaky anecdotal evidence rather than scientific investigation.
The defendants in the lawsuit are family practice physicians Anjum Usmann of Naperville, Ill., and Daniel Rossignol of Melbourne, Fla. The Tribune reports both men are prominent in a movement called "Defeat Autism Now!"
The movement -- championed most prominently by former Playboy playmate turned autism activist Jenny McCarthy -- links autism to diet, childhood vaccines and metal poisoning. However, such beliefs have been roundly rejected by the international medical community, including the American Medical Association and researchers at the Mayo Clinic.
Coman alleges in Cook County Circuit Court that Usman and Rossignol prescribed "medically unnecessary and unjustified" chelation treatments, even though his son didn't suffer from metal poisoning.
According to the lawsuit, Rossignol prescribed these treatments solely over the phone, never seeing the child.
"This is a big business, and there are a lot of people who are willing to put aside the safety of children to make money off of scared, desperate parents," Coman tells the Tribune.
A representative from Rossignol's office tells the Tribune that the doctor cannot comment on pending litigation. Usman did not return calls.
Coman also alleges the laboratory that performed the tests Usman and Rossignol ordered to justify their treatments used an "improper method" of testing.
To conduct the test, doctors give kids a chelation drug that forces the body to excrete certain metals. These metals exist in everyone -- sick or healthy -- in trace amounts. These metals show up in the child's urine, which is sent to the lab for analysis.
The Tribune reports the results on Coman's son were shocking. At the first glance.
Results showed he had elevated levels of lead, aluminum, tin and mercury -- putting him in the "90 percent range of metal contamination," according to the lawsuit.
Truly shocking? Not really, Coman argues.
His son was measured on a range for people who had never been given a chelation drug. That makes for what the Tribune calls an "apples-to-oranges" comparison.
Coman's son started getting these tests when he was 2 years old, when, Coman tells the Tribune, the boy "had not been exposed to mercury or any other heavy metal in significant quantity."
The Tribune reports Coman eventually opposed the treatments, despite the objections of his ex-wife. She has supported the controversial treatments, according to divorce court records.
Related: Medicines for Autism
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-08-2010 @ 9:41AM
Kev said...Anju Usman is female.
Reply
3-08-2010 @ 11:26PM
Ursula said...Being a mother of a son with autisim, i've heard so many different possible causes of the disorder. Everything from the mother usind drugs while pregnaut, taking certain prenatal vitamains and of course the most common one of all its caused from vacanations. None of these theroies i feel are true, the diagnose of autism itself is fairly new but if u think back to yur school days i bet u can remember one or two kids who were just a little quirky but werent labeled autistic! I think it is what it is, a developmental delay mostly affecting their ability to develop socially. And the idea of not having your childern vacanated for fear of autism is irresopsible and more dangerous than having to raise a child with autisim. My sister-in -law swears the vacanations her son recevived when he was a toddler is to blame for his autism and refuses to have their baby daughter vacanated its ridculous! And dont u think its odd that two first cousins would both develop autism because of a vacanation, I knew when my son was just 8 or 9 months old that he wasnt quite right, I first met my nephew when he was turning 2 and could tell he wasnt developmentally where he should be. My best advice for parents with childeren who are autistic is get them as much therapy, and psychogoical care as u can!!
3-08-2010 @ 1:53PM
SymandWade said...We cannot say anything about the Coman child, as we do not know that family. We can only say that our son has been helped beyond measure by Dr. Usman. She is brilliant, caring, and has a rational basis for anything she does. What some are labeling as "woo" is rapidly gaining acceptance with many in the scientific and medical community as the evidence builds that shows the efficacy of various protocols.
At the very least, this situation smacks of a father using this as a means of applying pressure in the domestic proceeding.
Unless Mr. Coman is able to allege a specific harm, this suit should be summarily dismissed, and his attorneys should be sanctioned for filing a frivolous action. As Mr. Coman was quoted in a precious Tribune article as saying his son is doing quite well, the filing of a suit alleging harm in a overly vague manner is the height of disingenuousness.
Reply
3-08-2010 @ 10:35AM
LS said...Please correct (not flame) me if I'm incorrect here, or if I read the article incorrectly...
These parents, or one of the parents, gave a drug/oral substance to their child on the advice of a physician they had never met, and who had never physically seen the child in question???
Who DOES that?
I get that they are desperate to help their child. I would be, too. But when you hear about a treatment - be it a "woo woo" treatment or a new peer-reviewed study - don't you go to your doctor first? The one who knows your child, maybe even as well as you do, if you've been seeing him for a long time?
I'm sorry, but that's ridiculously irresponsible on the parents' part. Frankly, it's also pretty irresponsible on the part of the doctors, if that is, indeed, what happened.
Reply
3-08-2010 @ 7:08PM
dj said...We have been working with the group over at autism-supplements.com and they have been wonderful. Our son has gone the natural route and we've been able to bring him back with the use of Vitamins and supplements.
If the parent did not know about the treatment, he could have asked for referrences I'm sure. Sounds like a guy klooking to make a buck to me.
Reply
3-13-2010 @ 5:15AM
D. said...Autism is (likely) a genetic disorder. If a child is born with the gene, there generally has to be something environmental to trigger the symptoms. Like anxiety or panic disorders and even OCD, autism is sometimes triggered, like I said, environmentally or it manifests generally by age 3 or 4 due to what is believed as a chemical imbalance. Mothers who bare children at an old age (over 34) run the risk of having a child born with autism. And this can be debated as to whether genetics were the culprit at all. Like all psychological disorders autism is not curable; it's merely a treatable illness. Even though tremendous strides have been made in the world of psychotherapy, we're still living in the dark ages for what looms over the distant horizon medically.
Reply
4-07-2011 @ 8:03PM
Marc said...Against my wishes my wife has put our autistic daughter on chealation therapy prescribed by Dr. Amy Yasko from Maine. For three years this doctor has been collecting $1000 a month from us with the promise of a cure. It turns out she is not a medical doctor. But my wife is convinced she needs a few more years to be cured. We have refinanced our house and maxed out a credit card for this program. I am fearful the stress of our non agreement on this treatment will end our family as we know it. I wish somebody would stop these evil doctors. Thanks for listening I have no one to talk to.
Reply