Chelation: The story behind the headlines

Bernard Rimland, Ph.D.
Autism Research Institute
4182 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116

“Death of boy linked to controversial chelation therapy,” the headlines shouted. The tragic story of a young autistic boy who died after suffering cardiac arrest following a round of chelation therapy provided mainstream physicians with a golden opportunity to crow about “quackery,” foolish and impressionable parents “grasping for straws,” and the dangers of “unproven” alternative treatments for autism.

To my knowledge, none of these doctors retracted their comments following the recent report issued by Mary Jean Brown of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to Brown, the boy’s death resulted, quite simply, from a drug error. The problem, according to Brown: a “look-alike” drug, Disodium EDTA, was mistakenly used instead of Calcium Disodium EDTA. Brown stated that “without a doubt” the mix-up caused the boy’s cardiac arrest, and she noted moreover that the correct treatment is virtually harmless.

So we have one tragic death, resulting not from proper chelation procedures as used by hundreds of doctors, but apparently from a medical mistake. Weighed against this, we have tens of thousands of children and hundreds of thousands of adults who have been treated safely with chelation therapy for decades. According to physician Ralph Miranda, former president of the American College for Advancement in Medicine, there have been no deaths associated with correctly-performed chelation in the past 50 years.

Since 1967 the Autism Research Institute has collected “Parent Ratings of Behavioral Effects of Biomedical Interventions.” To date, almost 25,000 parent responses have been collected. Chelation is a recent addition to our list of interventions. So far, of the first 470 parents who reported on the efficacy of chelation, 75% report “good” results, which is by far the highest “good” percentage reported for any of the 88 biomedical interventions (including 53 drugs) the parents have rated. (See: www.treatmentratings.com.)

Nevertheless, mainstream medical authorities would have us believe that chelation therapy—which now has a proven track record of thousands of children helped, and no deaths due to properly performed treatment—is a radical, dangerous, and improper treatment. Similarly, they say, nutritional approaches to autism treatment, such as megavitamin therapy, are unproven and possibly harmful. The only proper medical treatments for autism, these “experts” say, are drugs such as Risperdal, Ritalin, antidepressants, and other psychotropic medications.

Really? Let’s look at just how safe those drugs are.

• Risperdal is one of the favorite drugs of doctors treating autism. It is linked to dangerous and potentially fatal alterations in blood sugar levels, and to a life-threatening condition called malignant neuroleptic syndrome. It is implicated as a cause of cholestatic hepatitis, causes massive weight gain in many users, and is also a suspected cause of benign pituitary tumors.
• Olanzapine is another popular psychotropic drug. In 2004, doctors in the U.K. reported on the deaths of three patients who developed hyperglycemic ketoacidosis as a result of olanzapine treatment.
• According to psychologist John Breeding, “One hundred and sixty Ritalin-related deaths were reported to the FDA between 1990 and 1997, mostly cardiovascular in nature.”
• The Canadian government recently suspended the use of the ADHD drug Strattera, after the ADHD drug was linked to 20 deaths. The response of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration? “As with any drug, FDA will continue to carefully assess any new data that emerges which significantly affects the safety profile of this drug and will take immediate, appropriate action to promote the public health and make the public aware of its findings.” (In other words, “Twenty deaths aren’t enough to worry us.”)
• The antipsychotic drug Clozaril substantially increases the risk of diabetes.
• Other adverse effects reported for psychotropic drugs include osteoporosis, heart arrhythmias, tardive dyskinesia, life-threatening “serotonin syndrome,” drastic hormonal alterations, deaths due to falls or aspiration of food, and serious increases in aggressive or suicidal behavior.
• The American Medical Association itself admits that about 100,000 people die each year as a result of prescription drugs—and psychiatric medications are one of the most dangerous categories of these drugs.

What is the response of doctors to this frightening list of dangerous or deadly side effects? They prescribe more drugs. A study conducted by Brandeis University and published in January 2006 reports that psychotropic drug prescriptions for teenagers rose 250 percent between 1994 and 2001, even as scientists uncovered the deleterious effects of these drugs on patients’ hearts, livers, brains, bones, and brains. Millions of younger children are taking antidepressants, ADHD drugs, and antipsychotics, and the number rises each year.

Worse yet, when a single drug doesn’t work, doctors typically prescribe a “cocktail” of drugs. Of children taking psychiatric drugs, 40% are taking two or more drugs together. Autistic children often are prescribed three, four, or even more psychotropic and anticonvulsant drugs, with each new drug adding to the toxic “soup” and increasing the risk of fatal interactions. Three children, for example, died after being given a combination of Ritalin and clonidine.

“This is a critical issue,” says Joseph Penn, who conducted a study on polypharmacy. “It’s not uncommon to find a child on an antidepressant, a mood stabilizer and a sleep agent all at the same time, but there’s no research to see how these drugs interact with each other.”

I am not arguing that there is never a place for psychiatric drugs. In some cases, when all else fails, psychotropic drugs may be necessary evils—particularly when autistic children exhibit life-threatening aggression or self-injury. I certainly do not fault parents who turn to these drugs after all other avenues have been exhausted. But in the overwhelming majority of cases, psychiatric drugs do far more harm than good. They never correct the innate problems of autistic children. They never “cure.” They only suppress symptoms, while causing a host of horrific and sometimes lethal side effects.

In contrast, chelation and the other therapies advocated by DAN! doctors do treat the underlying causes of autism. These treatments are very safe, and highly effective. They make our children healthier, not sicker. And they can lead to dramatic improvement and even to recovery—to see proof, go to www.Autism-RecoveredChildren.com.

The bottom line: do not let the medical establishment’s campaign of misinformation deter you from pursuing chelation therapy or the other DAN! treatments being used successfully by knowledgeable parents and professionals. Rely on the truth, as evidenced by thousands of children who are becoming healthier, happier, more loving, and more capable of living a normal life as a result of chelation therapy and other safe and natural therapies—not on propaganda disseminated by mainstream doctors who have never helped autistic children, and possibly never will.

© copyright 2005, 2006 Autism Research Institute