Autism & Lupron: Playing With Fire · Feb 19, 05:20 PM

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Easy Stories & An Unexpected Twist

In recent months, there has been a virtual flood of articles on the subject of autism and vaccines, many of which follow a fairly predictable formula. Parents who believe that their children’s autism is a consequence of vaccine injury contact the local newspaper and tell their story to a reporter. They speak of the diagnosis, their heartbreak, their search for answers, their discovery of information on the Internet that convinces them that autism is caused by vaccines, the anger that follows this revelation, and the various biochemical treatments they have employed in an effort to relieve their child of “heavy metal toxicity.” They speak of ways in which their child is different from others, of his or her odd behavior, preference for solitude and lack of friends. They speak of their desire to give their child and family a “normal life,” and of their belief that the treatments are helping them to move in that direction.

They provide the reporter with scientific and popular articles that support their assertions about vaccines. They assist them in contacting Professor Boyd Haley of the University of Kentucky or Richard Deth of Northeastern University, two of the few scientists in academia who promote the autism=poisoning hypothesis. The reporter listens sympathetically to the parents, interviews the scientists, and interviews the family’s health care provider — usually one associated with Defeat Autism Now (DAN!), a network of doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists, homeopaths, nutritionists and others who proceed from the conclusion that autism is a consequence of vaccine injury, and market a potpourri of medical and nutritional treatments to parents of autistic children. The reporter contacts one or two local medical professionals to get their perspective on the controversy over autism and vaccines.

The reporter then prepares an article predominantly focusing on the parents’ beliefs, experiences and allegations, and offering the opposing viewpoint in a few sentences, often near the end of the article. The reporter generally does not seek out parents who do not attribute their children’s autism to vaccines; does not investigate the history of vaccine-injury lawsuits or determine whether the informants upon who he or she relies have a personal or financial interest in the outcome of either personal-injury litigation, or the sale of the various treatments described in the article; does not investigate the costs of and means of payment for those treatments; does not independently verify informants’ credentials or the source of their supposed expertise; does not independently evaluate the scientific evidence upon which informants base their assertions, or the qualifications of the authors of any articles cited; does not investigate organizations such as Generation Rescue to determine whether they are appropriate sources of information about autism; and generally learns little about the history and clinical literature of autism save for what they are told by informants.

The February 12 Concord (NH) Monitor featured two articles of this type. Vaccine Ingredient Cause of Controversy discussed the scientific aspects of the autism=poisoning debate. Did Mercury Cause Drew’s Autism? contained a profile of a Concord family in which the parents attribute their eight-year-old son’s autism to thimerosal poisoning, and employ chelation, nutritional supplementation and other treatments in the hope of speeding his recovery from what they believe is an iatrogenic condition.

What was especially notable about the second article was its reference to a relatively new “intervention” intended to “help” autistic children:

[Missy] Nadeau also wanted to have Drew’s testosterone levels tested. She had been talking with researchers who say children with autism have high levels and regulating them may help. The researchers agreed to talk with [DAN! doctor Lynn] Durand, she said.
“It’s not something we’ve ever done,” he said. “So, you have to recognize that. I’d be doing it under advisement.”

To my knowledge, this is the first mention in the popular media of the idea that “testosterone regulation” might be an appropriate treatment for autistic children.

Rare Conditions & Bright Ideas

I had first learned of this idea back in August 2005, after reading a discussion about it on the Evidence of Harm discussion list. At the time, I paid little attention to it; I had been blogging heavily on other subjects, and anyway, it is practically impossible for anyone to keep a close eye on every detail of the ever-shifting landscape of new theories about autism. The Concord Monitor articles offered a wake-up call, bringing home the fact that “testosterone regulation” is being promoted as a viable treatment for autistic children, with the thought that it might “increase the efficiency of chelation.” The articles inspired the realization that this is happening right in my own backyard, and the urge to do some homework.

The August discussion had begun when one mother had asked another list member:

…can you give us your impression on the use of Lupron to reduce testosterone? We were looking into this as our son is now in that “percocious puberty” stage and has regressed during this period.

Another inquired:

For a child (9 years) who has progressed into the “percocious puberty” stage with the added “benefit” of a pituitary gland tumor, are there any relevant studies (especially with respect to the cause)? I have read Dr. Geier’s article in Medical Hypotheses. I will be seeing an endocrinologist next week, but would like to do research in advance.

It was reassuring to read that this mother was consulting an endocrinologist, because the pharmaceutical preparation under discussion, Lupron, is a potent anti-androgen used in the treatment of prostate cancer and the chemical castration of sex offenders. Its only approved pediatric use is for the treatment of precocious puberty.

One medical reference site offers the following definition of precocious puberty:

…the appearance of physical and hormonal signs of pubertal development at an earlier age than is considered normal. For many years, puberty was considered precocious in girls younger than 8 years; however, a recent study and review suggest that age 7 years is a more appropriate age boundary for white girls and age 6 years for black girls. For boys, onset of puberty before age 9 years is considered precocious.

Precocious puberty can be brought on by several factors:

CNS abnormalities that can interrupt the central pathways that suppress onset of puberty include the following:
— Tumors (eg, astrocytomas, gliomas, germ cell tumors secreting human chorionic gonadotropin [HCG])
— Hypothalamic hamartomas
— Acquired CNS injury caused by inflammation, surgery, trauma, radiation therapy, or abscess
— Congenital anomalies (eg, hydrocephalus, arachnoid cysts, suprasellar cysts)

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan describes the following steps for diagnosis of precocious puberty in boys:

Your child’s health care provider will examine your son and measure height, weight, and bone age. Your provider checks the bone age by doing a simple x-ray of the hand and wrist to measure of the body’s overall bone maturity. Your provider will also ask about your family history of early puberty. Depending on the results of these tests, your son may need a blood test to check his hormone levels. Sometimes, an MRI of the brain is done to check if anything is affecting the gland responsible for releasing hormones. A specialist, called a pediatric endocrinologist may need to see the results of the tests.

Precocious puberty is considered a rare condition, especially in boys (who comprise four out of five individuals diagnosed with autism). In spite of its rarity, in August 2005, the phenomenon was being discussed by certain parents of autistic children as if it were something relatively common, and as if treatment with Lupron were something that one might initiate with little concern for the long-term consequences.

Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier’s idea that excess testosterone might increase the toxicity of mercury — which they assert is the primary cause of autism — and that suppression of testosterone production might enhance the efficacy of chelation were first articulated in the article, Potential importance of steroids in the treatment of autistic spectrum disorders and other disorders involving mercury toxicity, published in Medical Hypotheses. That journal’s editors explicitly solicit “radical ideas, so long as they are coherent and clearly expressed,” and eschew traditional peer review. In other words, Medical Hypotheses is a vanity journal that offers space to anyone who can write a marginally readable article on any medically-related subject — no matter how outlandish or scientifically insupportable. The Geiers’ article was “received 9 November 2004; accepted 10 November 2004,” which suggests that it was not subjected to peer review.

The abstract for the Geiers’ article conveys a sense of urgency characteristic of all of their articles promoting the autism=poisoning hypothesis:

We suggest a series of experiments that need to be conducted in order to evaluate the exact mechanisms for mercury-testosterone toxicity, and various types of clinical manipulations that may be employed to control testosterone levels… In light of the fact that there are a number of other diseases that may have a chronic mercury toxicity component… it is imperative that further research should be conducted to understand mercury-testosterone toxicity.

Most of the article’s references to the subject of thimerosal are to the Geiers’ own articles, or to articles written by parents — many of them non-scientists — directly involved in or advocating litigation against pharmaceutical companies and the government, or practitioners already making a considerable profit marketing chelation therapy as a “cure for autism.” After a discussion of toxins and metabolic pathways, the authors refer to an article describing a single-case study of an autistic adolescent with “severe behavioral disorders” who experienced “suppression of the severe behavioral disorders” after administration of an anti-androgen. The paper to which they refer is entitled, Sexual behaviors in autism: problems of definition and management. The reported outcome of anti-androgen treatment for problems of sexual behavior is not particularly surprising; chemical castration generally tends to inhibit libido. However, the Geiers make no mention in the body of their article of the sexual nature of the “severe behavioral disorders” described in that case study; they suggest that anti-androgens would be suitable treatment not only for sexually-related “behavioral disorders,” but for “behavioral disorders” in general. The Geier’s interpret the case study’s three-year follow-up as proof of an absence of “abnormal physical effects”; however, no long-term evaluation is made of any possible “abnormal physical effects,” especially with respect to sexual function.

The Geiers suggested that:

gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, may be of use in manipulating the steroidogenic pathway.

They failed to state explicitly that they were not simply discussing a hypothetical “steroidogenic pathway,” but were proposing the manipulation of the steroidogenic pathway in children. They wrote

Given the magnitude of the current epidemic of neurodevelopmental disorders, it seems imperative that the avenue of potential treatment by manipulation of the steroid hormone pathways be explored immediately.

Excitement & Concern

Dr. Geier and Mr. Geier obviously meant business. They submitted their article for publication in late 2004, and it was published in early 2005. They lost no time sharing their enthusiasm with parents of autistic children, and their ideas about how the treatment might be covered by insurance companies. In a January 2005 post to the Autism-Mercury list, the father of a nine-year old autistic son told his listmates:

Last weekend, the Geier’s gave a presentation in New York where they talked about using Lupron to lower testosterone. They said the testosterone bonded with the mercury and the Lupron made it much easier to get the mercury out. They said one shot costs $2,000 but that insurance would cover it if you had a diagnosis of precocious puberty. Any thoughts on Lupron? Thanks.

Apparently, the Geiers did not inform this father that precocious puberty is generally not diagnosed in boys over nine years of age.

Also in January 2005, a member of the Autism-Biomed list (ABMD) reported on a radio presentation given by the Geiers. They were quoted referring to their testosterone hypotheses as fact; conveying a sense of urgency about the need to lower testosterone in pre-pubescent autistic boys; discussing the diagnosis required for Lupron to qualify for insurance reimbursement; and announcing the existence of a study:

many autistic kids are entering puberty early (precocious puberty)… recommended approach is to lower testosterone, then remove mercury with chelation… puberty in autistic children is a ticking time bomb — need to get the mercury out before they hit puberty… insurance will most likely not cover chelation; but should cover precocious puberty (lowering the testosterone and monitoring it)… the Geiers are working with kids — the children must also be working with doctors (I’m assuming DAN! dr) — he’s looking to work with kids that are between 6 and 10 years old, and have evidence of precocious puberty

Not all ABMD members were so ready to automatically attribute early manifestations of sexual maturation to mercury toxicity. An April 2005 discussion of precocious puberty resulted in many sensible suggestions to the mother of a six-year-old boy to get her son evaluated by a pediatric endocrinologist.

Dr. Geier and Mr. Geier presented their new hypothesis at the May 2005 Autism One conference in Chicago; their presentation was videotaped and eventually made available online at FAIR Autism Media. In that video, Mr. Geier made repeated use of the word “we” when speaking of decisions about the medical treatment of a child, as if he, a legal consultant, were intimately involved in making those decisions. Also at that conference, a Methodist minister from Virginia, Rev. Lisa Sykes, offered an emotional testimonial about the results of “the Lupron protocol” on her autistic son. In her testimony, Rev. Sykes expressed her joy in the unfolding of her son’s communicative abilities; her fascination with the drastic fluctuations in his testosterone levels precipitated by the medication; her attribution of her son’s behavioral improvement to the “Lupron protocol”; her admiration for the Geiers; and her outrage that her son was presumably poisoned by thimerosal in his vaccines.

Dr. Jacquelyn McCandless (a sex therapist who is currently conducting her own study of the experimental use of low-dose naltrexone in autistic children) reported on the Geiers’ new “Lupron protocol” in a June 2005 “Bio-Chat” session, indicating that it would (rather than might) be an effective adjunct to chelation:

Dr Geiers lupron protocol will lower testosterone then the mercury is easier to pull out.

Immediately after the 2005 Autism One conference, a mother described a case in which Dr. Mary Megson had administered Lupron to a nine-year old patient, on the premise that lowered testosterone levels would increase the efficiency of chelation:

This is what Dr. Megson has explained to me. You lower their testosterone by administering Lupron. Lupron is a prescription med that has long been used to treat precocious puberty. You lower it for only three months. The mercury is then pulled out in sheaths. Large amounts of mercury come out. She had a nine year old patient that was nonverbal. After this treatment, he is now talking in sentences. I have not heard how or if this treatment could be used with girls. She has been working with the Geirs on this. It sounds very interesting.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, this same mother later reiterated the purpose for which Lupron was being administered:

Lupron lowers the testosterone level and frees up the mercury so it can be chelated out.

An Autism One presenter offered his cautious opinion of Dr. Megson’s expertise:

One problem I have here is that Dr. Megson isn’t up on the research on the environmental toxin phthalic acid and its metabolites. They interfere with testosterone and may be one of the problems facing male children. My talk at Autism One spoke to it. Not being an MD I can’t speak to Lupron but I wonder about the concept.

For one mother, money was a primary concern:

Lupron is $2000/shot only covered by insurance if your doc diagnosis precousous puberty. I was thinking of a natural alternative.

One parent expressed her reservations about the idea of subjecting their children to such a regimen:

I would be cautious using this and research this before using this drug too. My aunt was given this when she had a tumor in her uterus and she has more medical issues to date 11 years later. Please use caution before using this medication. She described it as a ‘chemotherapy’ injection. Check the PDR (Physician’s Desk Reference) on this drug.

Another simultaneously described her positive impression of the testimonials offered about this “protocol” and her wariness of it:

According to the Gier’s… Mercury screws up the Hydroxsteroid transferasf (spelling?) which adds a sulfer to DHEA and makes DHEA-S so more testosterone is made. This testosterone is binding to mercury and forming sheets in the brain. These large moecules do not easily cross the BBB. Hence they are trying Lupron to bring down the testosterone and free up the Hg. Bloodwise the testosterone goes up after a chelator is added. Then it goes back down. The two testimonies I have heard are very impressive. I don’t love Lupron. It looks like scary stuff. Looks like it’s a pharma product with lots of baggage. What are your thoughts?

Autism-Mercury’s resident chelation guru Andrew Hall Cutler offered his opinions on the Geiers’ assertions:

This is not a correct interpretation… I would certainly like to see clinical laboratory reports reflecting this… This is not related to reality… Let other people turn their kids into human sacrifices to the great Pharmaceutical Gods, stick with chelation which actually does work.

Mr. Cutler offered a similar opinion when the subject came up again on the list:

The theory that testosterone ties up the mercury and keeps it there is insane. Also the theory that testosterone creates the susceptibility in some direct sense. Also Lupron does NOT simply reduce testosterone. It does a lot more complicated stuff than that… I generally consider messing with steroid metabolism in children to be fraught with risk of messing up their sexual development so I suggest great caution in using Lupron. However I don’t suggest people automatically avoid it. The question as always is whether there is some reason to take it — an indication in medical terms — more specific than being autistic.

A fellow list-member expressed his caution more bluntly:

I wouldn’t trust the side effects of Lupron enough to start guinea-pigging my son.

In November, the subject of Lupron and chelation was raised again on Autism-Mercury:

A few months ago my son became very aggressive, to be more specific assaulting, after months of running from emergency rooms, been hospitalized somebody listen to me and did a hormonal test. His testosterone level was 875 when it was supposed to be 20 to 30. Finally an endocrinologist started him on Lupron, it took a while to lower the levels, but it did. We have schedule an appointment with Dr. geier to work on the chelation. Has anyone gone thru this, has anyone seen the Geiers?

The reply this mother received indicated the level of enthusiasm being expressed by the Geiers about their new “Lupron protocol”:

Try going to the NAA website and ordering the DVD or CD from the Geier’s lecture this past weekend. You’ll learn about their work with testosterone and Autism. This research is in its’ infancy, but the Geiers are SO excited about this topic.

It was not until December 2005 that several list members reported on their consultations with the Geiers, who appeared to be soliciting more patients for their study:

Has anyone on here had any experience working with the Geiers and their protocol? They are investigating the link between mercury/elevated testosterone and are using Lupron injections in conjuction with chelation. I was seriously considering pursuing this,(had one phone consult and getting ready to run their requested labs) but I am very concerned about the side effects of Lupron, which seem to be quite common and severe. Please email me… with any feedback you might have.
…I’m the mother of a 6 yr old autistic son and am chelating him with TD DMPS. I also heard about the Geier’s research with Lupron. I took Lupron injections several years ago to reduce the size of some uterine fibroids prior to surgical removal. The side effects I experienced were like going through menopause — night sweats, hot flashes, etc. Those are the only ones I can recall. Their research looks promising since it may be a way to get rid of the mercury much faster. If you know anything more about their new protocol or how to get in touch with the Geiers, I’d love to know… PS Check out the precocious puberty website. They talk about using Lupron Depot Ped and claim there are few side effects.

The subject of Lupron arose again in January 2006 on the Evidence of Harm list, when one member wrote:

Dr. Geier now has a testosterone study going on, I think it’s Lupron injections every 45 days? until age 12, while chelating with DMPS-TD. there’s some other stuff, too, he’s got I think 8 kids in the study, we’re working on getting all the stuff out of the way for allie Kat to participate, last I knew he had no girls.

The proprietor of FAIR Autism Media responded enthusiastically:

My daughter will be seeing the Geiers this winter/spring and we’re about to have her tested to see if their protocol is appropriate for her. I’ll report the results when we have them…but in the MEANTIME, you can watch the Reverend Lisa Sykes discuss her son Wesley’s progress after receiving Lupron treatments!

Also in January, two Autism-Mercury discussion participants indicated that their DAN! doctors and Dr. Geier were administering Lupron based on the results of hormone tests, with no mention made of any further diagnostic tests to determine a diagnosis of precocious puberty:

Since my son has not been releasing any mercury my son’s DAN! doctor ran a test to check for testosterone levels. My son’s testosterone levels came back very high. My son is 4.5yr old and non-verbal. The DAN! doctor told us the high testosterone levels can hold on to the mercury and can prevent the mercury from being released. I just finished watching the video with Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier and found it very interesting and I am interested in learning more. I would very much appreciate hearing from other parents about experiences of other children that are either currently using Lupron or have used Lupron in the past. I would also appreciate information on other options to consider for assisting with reducing the testosterone levels and getting the mercury to finally start coming out…
…Interestingly enough, I had a phone consult with the Geiers today, we’re getting ready to start their Lupron protocol. He gave me this huge long explanation of how mercury messes up your testosterone which messes up glutathione, and went into a long list of levels which are depleted in evidence of this — homocysteine was one of them. Other things my son was low in which points to low glutathione are Glutamic acid, Glycine, Cystine, Creatinine, and Cystathione. Fascinating stuff. All the levels he told me my son would be low in — he is. They definitely know their testosterone biochemistry. We’ve never tried chelation but all signs point to my son being a non-excreter and his testosterone is high. I’m praying that this is the ticket to really making some permanent progress for him if we can get his testosterone down and get the mercury out.

The most recent reference to Lupron on Autism-Mercury was a February 2006 exchange between a curious mother and Missy Nadeau, the mother profiled in the Concord Monitor article:

my son i thought was going though puberty early at 7 he has pubic hair growth. but when the doc did the hormone labs he said all his hormone levels are low??? what does this mean
Get in contact with Dr. Geier. Most likely your doctor used the wrong reference, probably to adult males instead of a boy your son’s age. Have you watched the video on Testosterone levels and Lupron on Autism Fair media? That will explain everything. My son just finished his tests for the Geiers and we are waiting for results. Dr. Geier uses a special lab that will reference Drew’s level with boys his own age. We live in NH so it is possible to be a patient of the Geiers’ Just a lot of phone consultations. Missy

One Mother’s Path To “Expertise”

A little more research revealed that barely a year ago, Missy Nadeau joined the Autism Web Discussion Forum, confessing confusion and hopelessness, seeking advice from other parents on her son’s behavioral and health problems, and seeking validation of her DAN! doctor’s treatments and recommendations. Shortly thereafter, she joined Generation Rescue, to serve in its fleet of newly-minted “Rescue Angels” ready to offer information to parents of newly diagnosed children. Mrs. Nadeau served as an information contact for the July 2005 Concord Power of Truth rally, organized by “NH Parents desperate to make a change for our children now!” In December 2005, she made a public display of the sort of emotional toxicity and conspiracist thinking commonly shown by many of her fellow “Rescue Angels” towards those who disapprove of the indiscriminate, data-poor promotion and implementation of experimental regimens on autistic children. A comment left on Autism Diva betrays her suspicion that those who express such disapproval are somehow “shilling for Big Pharma”:

Diva — Are you receiving cash, jewels, or tropical vacations from pharms.? Who signs your checks Eli Lily, Merck, or the CDC?
Missy Nadeau
Mother of a recovering mercury poisoned boy thanks to DAN! and especially Dr. James Neubrander God bless them!

In January 2006, Mrs. Nadeau could be found on the Autism-Mercury newsgroup, dispensing advice to a mother who had inquired about her son’s vomiting and copious salivation after starting him on a restrictive diet and dietary supplements and seeking treatment from a DAN! doctor. Mrs. Nadeau did not suggest that the mother report the boy’s symptoms to his doctor, or get a second opinion from a gastroenterologist; rather, she offered her own interpretation:

OK, here’s my problem. My son, who just turned 5 was diagnosed with ASD in November of last year… Today — Hasan is salivating alot! This has gone on now since the start of GF/CF diet — is that a coincedence? Spits on floors, hands, clothes etc. For the past 2 days, he has occassional vomiting which is not normal for him… Can a GF/CF diet cause stomach issues like this? Can a GF/CF diet cause spitting and vomiting? Can a GF/CF diet “wake-up” a yeast infection or leaky gut? Can a GF/CF diet “wake-up” a virus? The DAN doctor has next put my son on a massive multiviatmin to “feed his starving brain”. What should I do? Should I start my son on enzymes and probiotics NOW? HELP!
You may be seeing withdrawal symptoms from the opiods. Also, check to see if this might be a responder sign of MB-12. Are you giving him injections or in oral form? It’s possible that he is feeling things that he never had before because of improvement. i.e. new senses Have you added any other vitamin or supplement? Zinc made my son vomit. My son, Drew, actually did a lot of mouthing of objects and drooling when first starting the diet and especially the injections. This is a positive-negative. He would come home from school with his shirt sleeves and chest soaked. It eventually stopped. I want to say maybe a month or two?
Missy Nadeau
Son, Drew, 8 years old
Now starting to read, ride a two-wheeler, pretend play, and interact with peers thanks to Chelation

February 2006 found her suggesting that a mother disregard a doctor’s interpretation of her son’s hormone tests in favor of advice from the Geiers. And, thanks to the assistance of an uncritical local reporter, she has now been publicly described as an “expert,” with her contact information provided to parents of autistic children seeking medical advice and emotional support.

Doctors, Advisors & Experimental Ethics

Ms. Conaboy’s articles also inspired me to visit the website of Dr. Lynn Durand, described as “one of two in the state using biochemical treatments on children with autism,” and who claims to serve “fifty or so families who have children with autism.”

Dr. Durand is a traditionally trained, board certified Family Physician… He is also board certified by the American Board of Holistic Medicine. He has obtained Homeopathy training at the New England School of Homeopathy in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has been involved in various other complementary medical approaches including Reiki therapy, medical hypnotherapy, meditation, and the study of phytopharmaceuticals (herbs). He also specifically treats patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, autism, ADHA, hypothyroidism, heavy metal toxicity, and patients with chronic diseases which have not been addressed completely by the conventional medical approach.

Although Dr. Durand did state that, “It’s not something we’ve ever done… I’d be doing it under advisement,” it is cause for great concern that he or any other medical practitioner inexperienced in the use of anti-androgens would rely upon the advice of Dr. Mark Geier. Dr. Geier’s 2004 research project involving analysis of Vaccine Safety Datalink data was suspended by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Institutional Review Board following reports by CDC Research Data Center technical monitors of:

potential breaches in confidentiality and execution of analyses that were not approved in advance… during the first visit [Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier] conducted unapproved analysis on their datasets and on the second visit attempted to carry out unapproved analyses but did not complete this attempt… Before leaving, the researchers renamed files for removal which were not allowed to be removed.

In one vaccine-related case, a Federal judge offered the following opinion of Dr. Geier’s competence as an “expert witness”:

It is doubtful that Dr. Geier fulfills the American Medical Association (AMA) guidelines for expert witnesses… Dr. Geier’s expertise, training, and experience is in genetics and obstetrics. He is however a professional witness in areas for which he has no training, expertise, and experience… In other vaccine cases, Dr. Geier’s testimony has similarly been accorded no weight… [one] special master described Dr. Geier’s testimony as intellectually dishonest.

Neither does Dr. Geier’s resume indicate any advanced training in pediatric endocrinology. It is therefore quite disturbing to consider the possibility that the admittedly-inexperienced Dr. Durand — or any other doctor, for that matter — would rely upon Dr. Geier for advice on the diagnosis of such a rare condition as precocious puberty, and the administration of such a powerful drug as Lupron. Equally disturbing is Mrs. Nadeau’s willingness to manipulate her son’s testosterone levels in order to influence his behavioral, social and cognitive development, and her eagerness to share the Geiers’ excitement about their “Lupron protocol” to parents of newly diagnosed children.

That protocol is being tested right now, on real children, with some doctors — like Dr. Lynn Durand of Concord, New Hampshire — willing to proceed “under advisement.” Others — like Dr. Robert Filice of Oak Park, Illinois — are waiting in the wings:

At this time, I am not prescribing Lupron, but I will be watching as this theory gets tested in real life. The researchers provocatively believe that all of the previously successful therapies for autistic children derive their effectiveness by virtue of the fact that they reduce testosterone by different mechanisms, but that none of them are as specific and effective for this purpose as Lupron.

Questions & A Letter

Does the Geiers’ “study” have the approval of an Institutional Review Board? Could Dr. Geier have decided to forego that step, since his previous research had been suspended by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California IRB for procedural and ethical violations? Although in their Autism One presentation Mr. Geier implied that he and his father had communicated with representatives of TAP Pharmaceuticals about their study, it is hard to tell whether they explicitly communicated to Lupron’s manufacturers their underlying rationale for the administration of this drug — that is, to increase the supposed effectiveness of chelation in drawing mercury from autistic children’s bodies.

Does anyone involved in this endeavor really think that it is wise to offer a diagnosis of a rare medical condition, and to make decisions about the administration of powerful drugs to children, by means of long-distance telephone consultations and “advisement” by and to individuals with no demonstrable expertise in the field of endocrinology, toxicology, or immunology? Are those who offer the “Lupron Protocol” playing fast and loose with diagnostic criteria for precocious puberty, so that parents may obtain insurance reimbursement for this astronomically expensive medication? Do Dr. Geier or other DAN! doctors administer x-rays, MRI, or any other tests to determine the possible presence of complicating factors in those autistic children for whom they recommend a diagnosis of precocious puberty? Are children with high testosterone levels checked for glandular tumors that might result in increased production of testosterone? Are pediatric endocrinologists consulted in the diagnostic process? What is the “special lab” to which Missy Nadeau referred? Could it be Doctor’s Data, which has a significant share of the market in chelation-provoked urinalysis — with the chelation guaranteeing that mercury levels will be considerably higher than normal? What “special knowledge” might that lab’s technicians possess that exceeds the knowledge available to any other laboratory?

Who will assume moral and legal responsibility for any adverse consequences to children being subjected to the Geiers’ “Lupron Protocol”? Will children have to die or suffer grievous damage in order for this reckless experimentation to stop? What could any of the adults involved in this endeavor possibly be thinking when they submit autistic children to this sort of treatment?

With all of this background and all of these questions in mind, I sent the following letter to the Concord Monitor:

With her recent articles about autism, Chelsea Conaboy joins a multitude of reporters who have conveyed viewpoints of parents courting the media, without acknowledging that families respond uniquely to disability. Those attributing their children’s autism to vaccine injury are a vocal minority.

The Nadeaus’ anger is regrettable. Expanded diagnostic criteria and awareness of autism have swelled the numbers of families with newly diagnosed children. Trial lawyers and campaigners cultivate parents’ desire for retaliation, and downplay non-actionable theories of autism causation. Chelation-provoked testing yields artificially elevated mercury levels, needlessly encouraging parents to suspect reckless damage.

History abounds with mavericks willing to offer novel treatments justified by testimonials, but minimal peer-reviewed research or clinical trials conducted with informed consent. Parents employing such treatments — especially those who proselytize other parents – commonly attribute to them their children’s every developmental gain.

Mrs. Nadeau suggests that “regulating testosterone levels” might “help” autistic children. This involves administering Lupron, a potent hormonal suppressant. The “researchers” promoting this hypothesis, Mark and David Geier, have made a career out of persuading parents to file lawsuits alleging vaccine injury. Dr. Mark Geier’s “expertise” has been rejected by numerous judges; one characterized his testimony as “intellectually dishonest.” Disturbingly, Autism-Mercury newsgroup posts (http://www.onibasu.com) reveal that Mrs. Nadeau recently advised one mother to disregard a doctor’s conclusion that her son’s testosterone levels were normal, and encouraged that mother to contact the Geiers, who stand ready to offer telephone consultations to New Hampshire clients.

How valid is the “encyclopedic knowledge” upon which Mrs. Nadeau bases her dismissal of a physician’s judgment in endocrinological matters? Where’s the Institutional Review Board overseeing experimental studies of the use of Lupron on autistic children? Are parents’ eagerness to “help” their children and willingness to test a litigation team’s ideas sufficient rationale for manipulating hormones in those not experiencing precocious puberty?

Trouble With The Law

I fear that further casual consideration of the off-label use of Lupron by health-care practitioners might result in more incidents like the following:

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP), January 30, 2006 — Day care owner Sylvia Jovanna Vasquez, who allegedly confined three children in cage-like enclosures or filthy conditions, is now facing felony abuse charges involving a fourth child.

Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley said the additional charge involving the woman’s adopted 12-year-old daughter resulted “from further investigation as to her course of conduct toward the fourth child.”

The prosecutor didn’t give details about Thursday’s additional charge, but she said in earlier court documents that Vasquez injected the girl with the puberty-blocking drug Lupron numerous times since the child was about 9 years old.

Defense attorney Daniel Murphy said “she has a prescription from a doctor who’s prepared to testify why (the girl) was being administered that drug.” The prosecutor said she hasn’t been given proof the drug was prescribed.

Vasquez, 50, operated a state-licensed day care business in her home and it was shut down when she was arrested on Jan. 6 and charged with abusing three adopted children — ages 6, 9 and 13.

She allegedly locked two of them in small, cagelike quarters and confined a third in a filthy room on the lower floor of the home. Investigators also claim they found evidence that all three children were undernourished.

Vasquez has been released on $1 million bail. She has not yet provided proof of her prescription for Lupron, nor made public the name of the doctor who she claims is willing to testify on her behalf.

A Call For Responsibility

I sincerely hope that at least a few pediatric endocrinologists will take the opportunity to offer their professional opinions on this matter. I hope that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the manufacturers of Lupron might be persuaded to take a good, hard look at the uses to which this pharmaceutical product is being put, and the premises upon which such usage is based. Most of all, I hope that the doctors and parents who are administering or considering administering this drug to autistic children will realize that they are playing with fire, and will immediately desist from their experimentation, and seek other means of ensuring those children’s health.

Comments


  1. Oh my goodness! What a horror story. Chemical castration as a cure for autism. Would it do any good to join these lists and argue with these parents?

    — Mike stanton    Feb 19, 08:44 PM    #

  2. Holy smokes, do the Geier’s have anything left when you get done with them?

    Brilliant!

    — Jonathan Semetko    Feb 19, 09:42 PM    #

  3. So one of the hallmarks of the Griers’ theory is this sheets of testosterone claim. In the Autism [un]Fair Media video they labor on an on about how Hg can mediate the formation of these testosterone aggregates (sheets) that sequester the steroid and thus reduce the activity, or free concentration of testosterone leading to bad things.

    There is no such thing as a mercury-mediated testosterone sheet. There is no evidence that mercury causes testosterone to glob up and become unusable. However there are things called testosterone sheets. These are little square silicon sheets to which one can apply any solution or crystalized reagent and then implant that sheet into the tissue of an animal to deliver said reagent. One could have a chocolate sheet by smearing a silcon sheet with a chocolate chip and then it’s ready for your little chocolate delivery experiment. This must be where the brainiacs got the notion for a sheet of testosterone.

    So what do you call the prescribing of a powerful drug like Lupron based upon a pathetic and sub-sophmoric misinterpretation of basic science? I need some time to think about how to answer that without spitting.

    — Bartholomew Cubbins    Feb 19, 09:49 PM    #

  4. Mike, I don’t know how useful it would be to try to go head-to-head with folks who are inclined to buy into this particular theory; I’m inclined to think that it would be about as fruitful as trying to argue someone out of their religion. I am gratified to see that there are people already on the biomed lists who have openly expressed their doubts about using Lupron, whether those doubts arose from their understanding of its potential side effects, or from a basic prejudice against bad-ass Big Pharma drugs.

    Jonathan, thanks. I’m looking forward to someday reading a deconstruction of the scientific arguments the Geiers put forth in the Medical Hypothesis article and in their presentations. I may not be a scientist, but you don’t even need to go beyond the abstract to smell the bullshit. They write, “In light of the fact that there are other diseases that may have a chronic mercury toxicity component…” “A FACT that something MAY be a fact”??? How about “we guess that…” They’re trying to obfuscate their speculations and make them sound as if they’re something more solid than castles in the air.

    BC, you ask what I call the prescribing of a powerful drug like Lupron based upon a pathetic and sub-sophomoric misinterpretation of basic science? I call it idiotic and inhumane. This whole Lupron business reminds me of the eugenics movement and the disregard of its proponents for the sexuality, reproductive capacity and aspirations for family formation of people labeled as inferior.

    — Kathleen Seidel    Feb 19, 11:13 PM    #

  5. At the risk of calling the Hitler zombie up from the realms of the undead – - – shades of Dr. Mengele.

    Even if nothing bad can happen, they don’t know that nothing bad can happen, and besides that, when are the insurance companies gonna wise up? We all pay for this kind of white-collar theft.

    — Save the children    Feb 19, 11:31 PM    #

  6. Chilling. Truly chilling.

    After reading this, I went looking for things on Lupron and stumbled across this lawsuit.

    Apparently, a class action was brought against TAP (makers of Lupron) because:

    ”...five women claim, for example, that Tap Pharmaceuticals failed to properly test Lupron, failed to warn government agencies, including the FDA, of the results of company testing, failed to warn consumers of the dangers associated with Lupron, concealed the known dangers associated with Lupron, and failed to warn the physicians prescribing Lupron of its known dangers.”

    Sounds just a little familiar doesn’t it?

    The cognitive dissonance necessary to join in a hysterical crusade against one medication because its manufactured by ‘Big Pharma’ and apparently hasn’t been tested right and to attempt to treat what you believe the results of that with something else manufactured by ‘Big Pharma’ which apparently hasn’t been tested right is mind boggling.

    These people are going to cure their kids right into an early grave at this rate.

    — Kev    Feb 19, 11:36 PM    #

  7. “I wouldn’t trust the side effects of Lupron enough to start guinea-pigging my son.”

    I wouldn’t guinea-pig my GUINEA PIGS, either. And I have a male here who needs his hormones checked at the door. Strutting his stuff for my girls, who are both past safe-first-pregnancy age. And he wonders why I don’t let him play with them.

    “My son, Drew, actually did a lot of mouthing of objects and drooling when first starting the diet and especially the injections. This is a positive-negative. He would come home from school with his shirt sleeves and chest soaked. It eventually stopped. I want to say maybe a month or two?”

    One of my brothers had this drooling problem when he was small. (He wasn’t given Lupron, nor chelated, nor anything else like that.) He had to wear a bib well past the age at which most children stop needing one, and he didn’t wear it to keep himself clean of food, either. He had speech therapy for I think two years and was finished by the time he started grade one. Stopped drooling because of the speech therapy. It’s a sign of low tone in a person’s facial muscles. Typically such things happen suddenly because of neurological damage, such as stroke. Hardly a point for Lupron, if you ask me.

    Chemical castration is probably the underlying motive of the Geirs, really. I mean, think about it. You don’t want all these autistic children growing up and, heaven forbid, mating and producing more autistic young’uns, do you? So what’s the best way to deal with that? Castration, of course. But don’t market it as such. Be careful. You need to tap into something else so parents will go for it. So you do some research and discover that there’s a group of fanatics who cling zealously to the idea that autism is actually mercury poisoning. If you can market this stuff directly to them, you’ve got it made. Money (lots of it) AND chemical castration of their autistic children. You’ve hit the jackpot!

    — Janna    Feb 20, 12:22 AM    #

  8. I think that the take home lesson from the above is twofold, i.e., that:

    a) a health-care service whose funding is based upon business principles and profit motives is a very sinister machine (this is only, to my knowledge, happening in the United States); and:

    b) that autism now needs to be taken completely outwith the domain of medicine and placed where it belongs (i.e., within the domain of education and developmental/educational psychology)... clinical professionals have not maintained the field very well, if Kathleen’s article above is anything to go by (and I have no argument with KS on her article which, as usual, has been brilliantly researched).

    I cannot help believing that – were autism and other extremes of developmental difference taken entirely outside the control of medicine – those of us whose developmental trajectories have been extremely different might have a better time of things in the future.

    — David Andrews    Feb 20, 02:27 AM    #

  9. I, too, had visions of Mengele when I read this. First, chelate them, then lose them, now castrate them.

    Whatever happened to just loving them?

    — TheProbe    Feb 20, 09:08 AM    #

  10. “Would it do any good to join these lists and argue with these parents?”

    It is very difficult to argue with these people who are in the throes of this biomed delirium. If you ask questions, ask for research, etc., you are immediately suspect, a non-believer. I have spent some time on the Autism Web message board and it is amazingly cult like.

    However, I do think we should all continue to try to ask questions on these boards and lists, so that those who are somewhat skeptical might take a look at the other side. Parents, especially new parents, need to know there’s another side out there. I’m 4 years into this, and I thought I was one of the few that didn’t believe in the vaccine theory. I recently discovered the blogs, and I am delighted to know that there are others who are thinking the same way I am.

    Kathleen, thank you for all the time you spent researching and writing, you’re awesome.

    — Lisa    Feb 20, 10:08 AM    #

  11. I was on Lupron for 5 days, a part of a last resort fertility regime. I was supposed to be on it for 28 days.

    After 5 days, the endocrinologist had to suspend the program with me. (Note - endocrinologist - daily blood draws - lots of monitoring.) Lupron pulls the rug out from under you. Hormones are the life force, the energy source. In less than a week, I had the life force of an eighty year old.

    It’s criminal that this drug could be administered to children with “phone advisement” by doctors who are not highly experienced endocrinologists.
    - Gayle

    — gayle    Feb 20, 10:28 AM    #

  12. My last paying job was managing clinical trials for advanced prostate cancer. A 70 year old man with a terminal disease will accept risks that a child should not have to to prove some crazy hypothesis. Social interactions are going to be tougher when these little boys grow breasts (gynocomastia is listed in package insert).

    — Ruth    Feb 20, 12:01 PM    #

  13. Ruth said:

    “Social interactions are going to be tougher when these little boys grow breasts (gynocomastia is listed in package insert).”

    Ruth UNDERstates the problem. A neighborhood kid was taking a medication for Tourettes Syndrome which caused gynocomastia. The “boys” in the high school groped him, ridiculed him, and made his life a living hell. Finally, on a Friday night rec program he had enough. He took one of his principal tormentors and slammed him into a concrete wall. That stopped it…for a while…as he left the parking lot, his car was boxed in, and some of the “boys” used screwdrivers to flatten his tires, while others shattered all the windows. They dragged him out of the car and kicked him in his face resulting in multiple fractures and cuts so deep that he required multiple suturing.

    Three “boys”, out of 10+ were arrested. When it looked like they would get a free ride (connected parents) we intervened and had the case followed by the local media. They received a stern slap on the wrist.

    Meanwhile, they all graduated on time, while the victim did not. It seems that the school district was upset that his mother sued them for not responding to her pleas for a safe learning environment.

    Yes, Ruth, you are correct. I know you want to be wrong.

    — TheProbe    Feb 20, 02:56 PM    #

  14. What kills me is that it’s the bullies’ parents who should be taken to task, for raising children who can’t accept differences in others. The school certainly needs to be responsible for keeping the learning environment safe, but the school would have less to deal with if parents did their job properly to begin with.

    — Janna    Feb 20, 05:44 PM    #

  15. Boy before Lupron extremist chelation assistance protocol:

    O-|-C

    Boy after extremist Lupron chelation assistance protocol:

    O-B-C

    WIll the coward MD/PhD and his gimp son have the testicular fortitude to shoot themselves up with the same concentration of Lupron? Will the son strap the father down and give him the shot? Or which parent will hold them both down while the shot is being administered?

    Warning: job description includes fawning over the men and whispering to them, “it’s gonna be ok there big guy. you’re my big boy. I love you. We’re gonna make you all better” while the shot is administered. Believe me, they’ll thank you for it later.

    — Ann Onymous    Feb 20, 09:07 PM    #

  16. Well Kathleen, I wish I could say that I was surprised. Damn! I hate being this cynical!

    Maybe I’m just too hidebound, but I’ve looked at the structure of testosterone over and over and still can’t see how the Geier’s get it to make sheets. Perhaps they will share that bit of molecular biology with the rest of us mere mortals some day.

    In short – I suspest that Geier and Geier made up the “testosterone sheet” idea out of whole cloth. If it were true, there would be little to prevent mercury from making “sheets” out of cholesterol, which is much more prevalent in the body.

    So, let’s recap the madness:

    Chelation – not too dangerous, as long as you stay away from known dangers like EDTA.

    Lupron – lots of side effects – and the main effects aren’t too pretty either! And exactly how do they plan to pretend that they’re using it for “precocious puberty” when the child gets to be twelve or thirteen? Maybe they’ll just lie about their age. Oh, and it’s only about $1200 a shot, if you get it from a discount pharmacy.

    Injectable Gold – very dangerous, very likely to cause problems with life-long consequences.

    Have I missed anything? Has anyone suggested using cis-platinin, streptomycin or tamoxifen for autism yet?

    It would seem the next logical step would be to recommend coniine (from the plant Conium maculatum, so it’s “natural”) for the treatment of autism. Coniine has worked on problem behaviors in the past (e.g. Socrates) and would seem to fall in neatly with the autism-mercury crowd’s “autism is a fate worse than death” mindset.

    So, at what point do these parents and their willing accomplices – the practitioners who prescribe this stuff – cross the line from “alternative” medicine to child abuse (or, perhaps, manslaughter)?

    Prometheus

    — Prometheus    Feb 21, 12:33 AM    #

  17. One of the problems that parents cause by running from one desperate treatment to the other is that the child begins to understand that their parents think they are defective.

    I have two kids with special needs. My older son has AD/HD, and we ran from one alternative treatment to another for a few years to avoid medication. We stopped when we realized that we wasting his childhood trying to avoid medication and agreed that this was the best solution.

    He is now out of the house, doing quite well, and on his own. I met with him a few weeks back and we talked about a lot of things. One thing he mentioned was that he was glad that we stopped running around as he felt that all we wanted to do was to ‘fix’ him.

    — TheProbe    Feb 21, 10:00 AM    #

  18. I don’t know if it works as much going the opposite way, but lots of men describe hating the idea that their wives/girlfriends are trying to make them over.

    There’s an expectation that parents need to mold their kids to some extent, but it hurts kids if/when they realize that parents have no clue as to who they (the kids) really are, and that they are just supposed to be the raw material to be forced into the parents’ mold.

    The Geiers give the impression that they have already tried out Lupron, in my opinion. Maybe they have testosterone envy.

    — Grendle the magnificent    Feb 21, 12:45 PM    #

  19. Prometheus, I don’t know about streptomycin, but vancomycin, yes. See:

    Gastrointestinal microflora studies in late-onset autism
    Aminoglycoside Antibiotics And Autism: A Speculative Hypothesis
    Autism Study Sparks Concern

    And here's a little something about the recent re-engineering of Vancomycin in response to the development of Vancomycin-resistant bacteria:

    Scientists Re-engineer A Well-known Antibiotic To Counter Drug Resistance

    — Kathleen Seidel    Feb 21, 01:04 PM    #

  20. From the NAA, sorry if this is too long…

    It’s funny. Will the NAA start posting disclaimers as to which of the parents have pending lawsuits against vaccine or thimerosal manufacturers or the feds? Will they point out the financial conflicts of interest of their “scientists.”

    They don’t counter any of what was said by the reporter, just attack her credibility, ad hominem style and don’t even apply the same rules to themselves.

    Plus, these people are experts and handing out the predigested slanted articles to the press, as seen in this blog entry and letter to the editor of yours, Kathleen.

    REUTERS CORRESPONDENT FOX HITS “EASY BUTTON” ON AUTISM REPORTS, SAYS NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION

    REPORTER’S 2/19 STORY ON MISUNDERSTANDINGS LEAVES LITTLE CLARIFIED, FAILS TO ASK TOUGH QUESTIONS

    Nixa, MO – Today a group of parents in the mercury poisoning/autism community say there’s no real difference between the James Freys of the world and reporters who “nod and write.” Many believe the author of a Reuters article published on 2/19 entitled “Autism Surrounded by Misunderstandings,” was quick to accept the answers given and took the easy route on such a complicated topic.

    In Sunday’s article, Maggie Fox, who typically favors proponents of ethylmercury Thimerosal, rested her faith in psychiatrist Dr. Irving Gottesman about the concerns of vaccines and their mercury ingredients’ contribution to the rise in autism. In Fox’s article, Gottesman said, “..scientists are battling a plethora of Internet Web sites devoted to the idea that mercury causes autism.”

    Yet many scientists believe mercury has indeed caused the rise in autism. Web sites, along with written materials and peer-reviewed studies support accredited scientists and researchers that Fox failed to use as a balance to her autism article. Parents are growing frustrated with these nod-and-write tactics.

    “Mass communication is about working hard to spread the most dependable information for the sake of knowledge and intelligence,” says parent Wendy Fournier. “Unfortunately, Ms. Fox has forgotten this. Meanwhile, our children sit in a prison of silence where the truth has become banned.”

    Some parents believe that the court of public opinion is just as powerful as honest science when it comes to the wide prevalence of mercury poisoning dubbed “autism.” “Journalistic integrity is key,” says mother Rita Shreffler. “Otherwise, you’re simply a transcriber..a secretary of half-truths, rather than a championed poet of the whole truth.”

    The Reuters article came after a meeting of fellow doctors with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS.) Donors of AAAS include Johnson and Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer. Reuters also has several ties to pharmaceutical companies such as Merck and Glaxo SmithKline. A few of these pharmaceutical companies hold a vested interest in disproving a link between mercury-containing vaccines they manufactured and neurological injuries to children.

    NAA, a non-profit and parent-run organization, plans to launch a formal request for full disclosure to groups such as Reuters. The request would require any conflicts of interest be disclosed at the end of articles that deal with pharmaceutical issues.

     — Camille    Feb 21, 02:07 PM    #

  21. I agree completely. The mercury litigants and their supporters—most of whom either have a financial interest in the outcome of personal injury litigation, or in the marketing of treatments intended to relieve “heavy metal toxicity”—have benefited tremendously from an onslaught of “nod and write” articles prepared by local reporters who don’t bother to look further than the Generation Rescue website for information about autism, content to transcribe the half-truths that are presented to them. Also, the predictable kvetching about supposedly-nefarious “ties” to pharmaceutical companies is absurd. If these folks had their way, the only people anyone would rely upon for scientific information would be ones with absolutely no experience in academia, private industry or government, and who never, ever worked with anyone with any experience in academia, private industry or government—except for the precious few academics (such as Richard Deth and Boyd Haley) who support them in their dragon-quest.

    — Kathleen Seidel    Feb 21, 02:53 PM    #

  22. The president of SafeMinds, Lyn Redwood, is an active participant in a thimerosal lawsuit -- as are several principals in that organization. It would not shock me if several members of Generation Rescue were as well.

    It also would not surprise me if Handley and his venture capital firm had some financial interest in chelation or other biomedical treatments.

    While I think the majority of mercury parents are “true believers”, I think far less of the alleged scientists and ringleaders. I tend to believe they know better -– and have known better for awhile. But it’s hard to give up the bully pulpit and the attention (and money) that comes with it.

    — anonimouse    Feb 21, 06:06 PM    #

  23. There are other problems, e.g. a writer named Evelyn Pringle who writes pro-mercury causality articles and is affilated with a lawyers group.

    To Grendle the magnificent…fully agree, but, it works both ways. I know of one guy who wanted his PHD in math from MIT wife to be a sex toy 24/7. She eventually told him that it did not add up.

    — TheProbe    Feb 21, 08:14 PM    #

  24. I just posted a response on Bartholomew Cubbin’s blog pointing out that in girls Lupron reduces estrogen, not testosterone. So the Geiers will have to come up with an estrogen-mercury connection if they want to cure autism in girls with this method.

    — Mike stanton    Feb 22, 05:09 AM    #

  25. Kathleen,

    Sorry about the confusion over streptomycin – that was supposed to be sarcasm, but I keep forgetting that sarcasm doesn’t carry well in writing.

    All of the drugs I mentioned – including coniine, better known as Hemlock – are higly toxic. That was my point, such as it was.

    There seems to be a rush to use more and more dangerous drugs to “treat” autism, so it seemed only “reasonable” (as in “A modest proposal…”) to move right up to the most toxic, most dangerous (or frankly lethal, in the case of coniine) drugs and save everybody a lot of time and effort.

    It seems to me that some of the mercury-obsessed are willing to have their children face any risk, pay any cost, bear any burden, in order to feel that they – the parents – have “left no stone unturned”. My concern is that the only stones left unturned will be their children’s gravestones.

    Prometheus

    — Prometheus    Feb 22, 10:04 AM    #

  26. Mike is right that these proponents have some major scientific misunderstandings.

    It baffles me how it seems that so many of these mercury-autism people seem ardently Christian, because it’s passionate Christians (priests in my experience) who preach the law of unintended consequences. Why is it that that law gets marched out when someone talks about the origin of life or stem cell research, yet when dealing with children it gets swept under the rug?

    My point is that anyone who sits back and gazes at a biological pathway (KEGG for example) and then makes a decision to medicate a child based upon a theory about that pathway is being rash, at best. Genetic regulation is still a huge topic in the biological sciences and will be for some time. 5 years ago we knew almost nothing about RNA-based genetic regulation and here it seems to be a major factor in the biology of higher order eukaryotes.

    In this Lupron-chelation-autism debacle it seems the theories are based upon an incomplete pathway diagram. Again, at best (for the proponents of the theory), I think a label of incompetency can be validly applied.

    — Bartholomew Cubbins    Feb 22, 12:53 PM    #

  27. BC, couldn’t agree more. Actually, I’m thinking that malpractise is more of an appropriate charge to level. I’d be pushing for that.

    — David Andrews    Feb 22, 01:32 PM    #

  28. Malpractice sounds about right. nods

    BC, I find it odd that so many of them claim Christianity, as well. Christ cured those who were in need of healing, but Paul (who many adhere to more stringently than the Gospels) had some kind of affliction for years with no relief.

    Then again, I don’t know why I’m so surprised… I’ve found less understanding and less tolerance of disabilities in the church than anywhere else. Which saddens me to no end, because I love the church.

    — Janna    Feb 22, 03:54 PM    #

  29. Science blogger Orac has just posted an excellent deconstruction of scientific arguments put forth in the Geiers’ Medical Hypotheses article.

    Other conversations about administration of Lupron to autistic children are going on at

    Autism Diva

    Not Mercury

    Bartholomew Cubbins

    Left Brain/Right Brain

    — Kathleen Seidel    Feb 23, 02:12 PM    #

  30. Kathleen, as I wrote on Orac’s comments, you have both blown open a truly important story with a heroic effort I rarely, if ever, see in medical journalism. Your combined efforts are deserving of a much wider, mass-media audience. I hope that you are exploring a way for both of your stories to be more broadly distributed.

    I’m a typically-overcommitted scientist who plays one of his roles in a medical journalism graduate program and will be certain to bring your work to my students as an example of the type of effort needed to protect the public from charlatans and the so-called journalists who ‘nod and write’ without any critical evaluation of the claims, motivations, and qualifications of so-called experts. (I also often write sentences as lengthy as those of Orac). For example, noticing the one-day difference between submission and acceptance of the Geiers’ Med Hypothesis article is something that requires actually getting the article instead of just reading the abstract on PubMed.

    You are a credit to your profession and I look forward to reading more of your work. Well done!

    — Abel PharmBoy    Feb 24, 05:59 AM    #

  31. Abel PharmBoy, thank you so much, and thanks, too, for mentioning me on your weblog.

    — Kathleen Seidel    Feb 24, 09:46 AM    #

  32. This is truly terrifying. Thank you so much for breaking this open Kathleen. Something has to be done to stop this. Chemical Castration as the new cure of the month is even more frightening and inhuman than chelation.

    — Ari    Feb 24, 10:53 PM    #

  33. I was doing a little research tonight on the Geiers, trying to find information about “The Genetic Centers of America” and “MedCon, Inc.” which I wasn’t able to find anything about them, like a website, address, etc. I was under the impression that these were physical companies, but now I’m wondering what exactly they are. Does anyone else know? Do they actually exist?

    — Lisa    Feb 24, 11:10 PM    #

  34. Okay, never mind, I did find something on Genetic Center. I found an address for The Genetic Center, which I saw on one of Geier’s reseach abstracts is a subsidiary of the “The Genetic Centers of America”
    GENETIC CENTER.
    20 Crossroads Dr # 211 Owings Mills, MD 410/581-8300

    — Lisa    Feb 24, 11:45 PM    #

  35. Let’s keep the focus on the Geiers. Orac has written some interesting stuff about them in ther past.

    I view them as the “American Wakefields”.

    And, to AbelPharmBoy…no one can write a coherent sentence as long as Orac can.

    — TheProbe    Feb 25, 03:26 PM    #

  36. I have created a page of links about Lupron and its experimental use on autistic children, including discussions that have ensued following publication of this article.
    http://www.neurodiversity.com/lupron.html

    — Kathleen Seidel    Mar 2, 07:52 AM    #

  37. Does anyone know where I can find out more about the Geier’s protocol? I want to try it to help my autistic boy to recover. It’s either that or I shoot myself through the head right now. Thanks.

    — Mark S    Mar 18, 12:17 PM    #

  38. Here you go—a few new discussions of Lupron and its ill-advised use for the treatment of autism:

    Prometheus: Below Junk Science

    Prometheus: Armchair Science vs. Real Science

    Autism Diva: Side Effects of Armchair Science

    — Kathleen Seidel    Mar 18, 01:36 PM    #

  39. It’s easy to criticize the ones who care about these kids. Do any of you HAVE a child with autism? Does our wonderful government help by covering their treatment? Have you lived with and watched daily the regression of these kids who were born just fine and slowly faded away?? Have you experienced the HEARTACHE and the HELPLESSNESS of not knowing how to help them?? Should we ignore them and let them be institutionalized? Why not shoot some of YOU with 187 mcg of MERCURY and see if you lose YOUR SPEECH and start flapping your arms instead of your jaws??

    — Cindy    Apr 5, 02:44 AM    #

  40. To answer Prometheus in comment #25, I am a grandparent who will go to the ends of the Earth to find help for my grandson who was born very healthy until he was shot with 187 mcg of mercury. It was a “slip” by the FDA and CDC who aren’t offering ideas on how to help these kids who have been poisoned….no ifs, ands or buts about it. When you WATCH it happen, you KNOW it’s REAL and FACT like the ones who watched the miracles performed by Jesus himself. Put your efforts into trying ways to help these kids instead of criticizing the ones who are. It’s the biggest screw up in this nation’s history when it comes to the health of our children. Vaccines are meant to keep them healthy, not to poison them.

    — Cindy L.    Apr 9, 10:49 PM    #

  41. Cindy, thank you for visiting. I hope your grandson finds all the healing he needs, and that you and your family find healing, too.

    Yes, I am a parent, as are a number of people who have left comments here; some have their own ASD diagnosis.

    You have left a couple of other comments that I did not approve, since they were personal messages, one including telephone numbers of DAN! doctors. This weblog is not meant to be a bulletin board for doctor referrals or provision of medical advice.

    — Kathleen Seidel    Apr 10, 03:49 PM    #

  42. We have not gone on the path of drugs except clonidine to help our son sleep. Our 7 year old is doing wonderfully, and we have followed the Floortime approach and fought for inclusion at every turn. But do we think his autism diagnosis is a result of murcury? Yes. We have vaccinated all our children fully (including two brothers, one younger) but it is just too much when in both communities we have lived through the past 5 years, over half the mothers we have met (through school advocacy groups, not any kind of ASA functions) who have a child with autism are Rh-negative and received RhoGam, as did I. Our son’s hair ended up smelling “toxic” for about two years when his grown up hair started to grow in. It was horrible to come within a few inches of his head except when he had just taken a bath and had his hair washed. Now, however, his hair smells fine. He was what I call “the Big A”—head-banging, all-out tantrums through the day and night – and now he is at or around grade level going into 2nd grade (he has always been in regular ed classes with support—the REAL FIGHT, frankly!) and his language is simply bursting as are his social skills. Most people would not guess he has this diagnosis in everyday activities until they try to have a “normal” conversation with him, So I just think that you should know that there ARE parents out there who have not “gone after every cure”—in fact, we have made sure that our son’s sense of belonging in our family and community is rock solid. But we do think that the RhoGam is a major factor (as it contained thimerasol and was injected in me at 27 weeks gestation with twins). The other twin had severe speech delay but was completely out of special ed by the start of kindergarten. It’s just too much of a “coincidence” that so many moms that I meet through the boys’ school system are Rh-negative. 5 out of 8 here in our new home in a new state and 7 out of 10 in our previous community. Should only be 1 out of 10 if it followed the actual rate of Rh- negative women. And we haven’t sued anyone or ever contacted a lawyer.

    — Kasey    Jun 4, 05:40 PM    #

  43. I hope no one takes this article at face value without checking the facts. Lupron’s use in autism, while still experimental, shows some promise and does NOT chemically castrate autistic individuals but rather affects the interaction of chemicals in the brain and body of ASD children which affects their ability to process and eliminate heavy metals from their bodies. Review some of the research done in this area and make an informed opinion. Don’t believe onesided biased banter from poorly informed individuals.

    — M Blackstad    Apr 26, 04:17 PM    #

  44. “One-sided banter from poorly informed individuals”? Friend, you have a LOT to learn. I welcome you to read the rest of my articles on this subject. This was only the first.

    — Kathleen Seidel    Apr 26, 04:36 PM    #