Post a Comment On: Adventures in Autism

From Dr. Neubrander to the parents of his patients:

The cause of the recent tragedy involving the death of a young boy with the use of IV EDTA is expected to take time to determine exactly what happened.

Some of the leaders say that "no comment" is the best comment until the details are known. There is nothing wrong with that statement except that it does not aid in reassuring parents that biomedical treatments, in general, are safe with a relative benefit to risk ratio that is lower than almost anything else known. The truth is, at this time we just don't know what happened. However, considering that IV "calcium" EDTA has been used for years with extreme safety, only so many possibilities exist to explain what happened. The most plausible possibilities include: a) a rare allergic reaction; b) the form of EDTA used was disodium EDTA and not calcium EDTA.

For those looking for a "smoking gun" to justify them not using effective biomedical treatments, this is a dream come true. However, apples should be compared to apples and not oranges. One death from EDTA out of hundreds of thousands to millions of safe doses being administered by an FDA approved drug should be viewed side-by-side with the number of deaths from Ritalin over a 10 year period [186], chickenpox vaccine in a 3 year period [14], DPT vaccine in a 3 year period [471], MMR vaccine in a 4 year period [30], OPV vaccine in a 5 year period [540], Hepatitis B vaccine in a 8 year period [439]. The question must be asked, "Where is the smoking gun in reverse?

Why is one 'unapproved biomedical tragedy' so much worse than the hundreds of 'FDA approved tragedies'?"

Emphasizing this issue of bias, prejudice, inequality, and the frying pan calling the kettle black is an article written by Virginia Linn that appeared Monday, August 29, 2005 in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [for the complete article go to
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05241/561879.stm.

Though parents are dismayed about what happened and are now more cautious than ever, they are not willing to stop using a treatment that helps many children.

However, because many parents see chelation as a logical option due to the fact that they believe there is a connection between their children's autism and the mercury preservative in childhood vaccinations, Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, made the following statements. He said: a) "Scientific study after scientific study have found no connection, and it's unethical for any doctor to give chelation for this purpose; b) Doctors need to work harder to convince parents that the whole reason to use chelation is pointless; c) I wish there was more outrage with this death. This boy was sacrificed on the altar of bad science and that was unconscionable; d) Who was watching out for this boy?''

To his last statement about who was watching out for this boy I reply -- Each of us who:

a) Studies the issues open-mindedly.

b) Who reviews studies both pro and con about mercury and vaccines and who don't just swallow the party line, especially when there seems to be so much conflict of interest by so many parties involved.

c) Listen to parents to learn why what they are saying may be true, not why what they are saying is not possible because research doesn't support it.

d) Is willing to cry "foul" when articles such as the one that appeared in the New York Times gives only their side of the story, represents it as "truth", and sells their position by saying that parents are illiterate, opposed to science, acting out of desperation, duped by unscrupulous doctors, and who are speaking to God.

e) Is not willing to wait for the wheels of science and medicine to slowly
grind to fully document everything as safe, especially when these scientific gristmills are so often fed by the grains of money, politics, and power.

f) Is not willing to ignore the Science of THE GOD known as the "Weight of Evidence" when it shows a good benefit to risk ratio and does not bow to THE IDOL "when" it says it is the only god, the "Double blind Placebo Controlled Study".

g) Is willing to yell "unfair, unfit, unscrupulous" when one tragedy is used
to condemn all parents, all clinicians, all scientists who have come to thoughtful conclusions that are in direct conflict with the message that those pointing blame want to sell as being universally true.

But most of all, EACH OF US WHO are intelligent enough to realize that any person, any time, anywhere who points blame with one finger but who does not look into the mirror and point the finger back when equal or greater atrocities occur "in the name of good science that rests on a TARNISHED ALTAR with the blessing of the FDA-GOD" is definitely worshipping at the feet of THE IDOL. However, to be perfectly clear and not be misquoted which is sure to happen, double blind placebo control studies are not an idol or a god. Rather, the problem is the way humans have made an idol out of something that is here to serve them all the while saying it is the only god. Therein lies the fallacy. Herein lies the truth: The "total body of knowledge", as gathered by "the total compilation of evidence" from parents, clinicians, "classic" science, and "the other sciences" is the only way to find THE TRUE GOD OF KNOWLEDGE.

THE FOLLOWING TWO POSTS SAY IT WELL.

POST #1:
From: "bradfordhandley"
Date: Thu Aug 25, 2005 1:40 pm
Subject: Pittsburgh Story thoughts bradfordhandley Offline Send Email

A child lost his life because his parents were trying to remove the heavy metals from his body and he had an allergic reaction from the drug being administered.

There is no way to sugarcoat what happened, all of our hearts go out to the
parents and family who are grieving, and, for many of us, this hits very, very close to home and reminds us that no medical procedure is 100% safe.

Will the press and mainstream medicine have a field day with this story?

Absolutely.

My wife and I welcome discussions with the press. Losing even one life is
too high a price to pay for healing our kids, and we need to learn from this experience to make treatment even safer and more effective.

To say that we are using "chelation therapy to treat autism" is a misstatement. We are using chelation therapy, in our case, to treat a medical diagnosis of heavy metal toxicity. That is what my son actually has, that is what the dozens of medical tests we have run on him show, and one year into chelation he has improved dramatically.

Autism is a psychological diagnosis, based on observed behavior. It does not offer up a medical foundation or explanation for cause.

This case will be blown out of proportion. We can use this as an opportunity to explain to the world why we are treating our children (because they are heavy metal poisoned), how they are progressing, and that we all know and accept the risk involved in making our children better.

Of course, the press will probably not mention some of the ugly truths that
are out there about how our children die from other treatments, so here are some resources to consider, in an attempt to help the journalists reading this list put things into perspective:

1. Between 1990-2000, 186 reported deaths from Ritalin:

http://www.ritalindeath.com/

2. Children's deaths from vaccines, as recorded by the CDC:

Chickenpox vaccine 1995-1998:

Between March 17, 1995 and July 25, 1998, 6580 adverse events - including 14 deaths - were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System in association with varicella vaccination--- Pediatric News 33(3):12, 1999.

For DPT vaccine 12,504 reports VAERS reports with 144 deaths per year(1990-1993)

"In a year-long investigation of the Vaccine Adverse Reaction Reporting System (VAERS) operated by the Food and Drug Administration, NVIC/DPT analyzed VAERS computer discs used by the FDA to store data on reports of deaths and injuries following DPT vaccination. A total of 54,072 reports of adverse events following vaccination were listed in a 39-month period from July 1990 to November 1993 with 12,504 reports being associated with DPT vaccine, including 471 deaths."Campaign Against Fraudulent Medical Research (CAFMR)

MMR vaccine VAERS reports 7 deaths per year (1990-1994):

"From July 1990 thro' April 1994, 5799 ADRs following MMR vaccination were reported to US Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS); including 3063 cases requiring emergency medical treatment, 616 hospitalizations, 309 who did not recover, 54 children left disabled and 30 deaths."--- John P Heptonstall

For OPV vaccine there were VAERS reports of 108 deaths per year over a 5 year period.

"We commissioned an OPV Vaccine Report and started making all kinds of other inquires. The OPV Vaccine report that we received was a shocking report. It covered a recent period a little less than 5 years and the following is the summary for that period: The number of Vaccine Associated events that occurred: 13,641 ..The number of events resulting in death 540"--The Polio Connection of America & Polio vaccine victims:

http://village.ios.com/~w1066/poliov6.html

For Hep b vaccine there were VAERS reports of 54 deaths per year(1990-98)

"The total 24,775 VAERS hepatitis B reports from July 1990 to October 31,1998 show 439 deaths and 9673 serious reactions involving emergency room visits, hospitalization, disablement or death."-- Michael Belkin

http://www.whale.to/vaccines/belkin1.html

"Since July 1990, 17,497 cases of hospitalizations, injuries and deaths in America following hepatitis B vaccination have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) of the U.S. government. This figure includes 146 deaths in individuals after receiving only hepatitis B vaccine without any other vaccines, including 73 deaths in children under 14 years old. In 1996 alone there were 872 serious adverse events in children under

14 years old reported to VAERS. 658 of those injuries were following hepatitis B vaccination in combination with other vaccinations and 214 of these injuries were after hepatitis B vaccination alone. In these children under 14 years old, there were 35 deaths after hepatitis B vaccination in combination and 13 deaths after hepatitis B vaccination alone, for a total of 48 deaths. Compare these statistics with the total number of hepatitis B cases nationwide reported that same year (1996) in children under 14, just 279, and the conclusion is obvious that the risks of hepatitis B vaccination far outweigh its benefits."---Incao's Hepatitis B Vaccination Testimony



POST #2: The following was posted from Dr. Gary Gordon, one of the founding
fathers for chelation therapy and an expert in the field of chelation for all reasons, not just for heavy metal poisoning seen in ASD children.

Dear Health Care Professionals:

You may soon read and hear the kind of hysteria and negative press that I expected to see, but it will get FAR WORSE before it gets better. As of this moment, I can only assume that there must have been a substantial deviation from the standard procedures that I, and all of you, have established for the safe administration of Calcium EDTA. As incredible as it may seem to those of you belonging to this discussion group, the possibility exists that the child was treated with Disodium EDTA administered by IV Push. I am forced to consider this unfortunate explanation unless there was some major undiagnosed illness in the child that no one suspected, such as a major heart defect or perhaps an aneurism that ruptured at the exact time the patient was receiving the IV Push of Calcium EDTA. However, the autopsy has been completed and he results were inconclusive so that they have ordered additional tests, which may take up to 5 months to complete.

This means that there is no obvious explanation for the death of this child.

My fear is that if someone who is not knowledgeable in chelation and has not learned that this is complex chemistry assumes, for example, that all that they have to do to provide magnesium EDTA or Calcium EDTA is just add either magnesium or calcium to a syringe containing Disodium EDTA.

We could have a serious problem because Disodium EDTA has a black box warning about rapid administration to children and simply adding something like Calcium or Magnesium does not fully convert Disodium EDTA to Calcium EDTA. Then there is also a problem with discomfort, if you tried to give yourself an IV push of diluted Disodium EDTA the pain could be extreme so you might wind up increasing the dose of Lidocaine and again we can get into problems with the heart if too much of a "caine" if given intravenously.

So let's look at the big picture, there are NO DEATHS occurring when EDTA, either calcium or Disodium are PROPERLY administered. Now the media will try to make chelation out to be fraudulent and the tests that we do to measure lead etc as being meaningless. Amazingly they will bring out Quack buster Barrett who with a little more effort we may be able to one day put behind bars for his lies and incompetence.

Thus I have to conclude some error in rate of administration, dosage, method of preparation probably occurred; in fact, I now believe this is most likely rather than administering the correct drug, Calcium EDTA, intravenously, which even in children is safe and effective.

Doctors who have been providing this treatment to children can hardly stop talking about the remarkable successes they have been witnessing with children responding far more rapidly than we could ever do with just the oral Calcium EDTA that I have been advocating for so long.

We know that worldwide sales of all forms of EDTA have been steadily increasing and that based on logical calculations it appears that well over 10 million patients have been safely treated with either Calcium or Disodium EDTA over the past 32+ years without a single documented fatality, as long as the established protocols were followed. All the evidence to date that EDTA is perhaps the safest therapy offered in medicine, outside of placebos.

To my knowledge, EDTA has been safely administered for nearly 50 years with the only deaths occurring in the beginning, with terminal cancer patients suffering uncontrolled hypercalcemia where inappropriate doses of Disodium EDTA were administered by rapid infusion to patients with known compromised renal status.

With the extensive proof now existing that everyone today has nearly 1000 times too much lead in their bones and Harvard publishing that this bone lead will compromise vision there can be no argument that we all have some heavy metal toxicity. Then once we conclude that government cannot stop the mercury, cadmium, lead etc from going in the air, and thus into everyone anywhere on earth, then it becomes a matter of personal choice, live with these heavy metals or remove them. Oral chelation is clearly necessary since bone lead will take 10 years to turn over for the average adult, but some of us want results NOW. Nothing is as effective as the 147 fold increase in lead excretion over base line that IV Calcium EDTA, PROPERLY FORMULATED, was documented to induce by Doctors Data with the help of Dr Whitaker's staff.

Thus I must extend my sympathy to the family of the deceased 5-year-old boy from Nigeria whose brave mother came to the Pittsburgh area from the United Kingdom to seek treatment for her autistic child. She was seeing clear improvements in her son. This was the third infusion he had received. He apparently had a cardiac arrest and was unable to be resuscitated immediately following this third infusion of what I fear was not Calcium EDTA, which is the ONLY form of EDTA that I have advocated for the exciting rapid infusion technique.

I hope those who have experience with it in their practice are NOT GOING TO STOP USING it that you have the "rest of the story", as best as we can establish it at this time. Please understand that the involved doctors cannot be expected to admit anything on advice of their attorneys. I have only checked to see if they have ever purchased Calcium EDTA and found the answer was ?no??. leading me to compose this email in an attempt to diminish the harm that the media will do to everyone who otherwise could have been receiving oral and or IV chelation and will now be afraid.

This email may be copied and handed to your patients in an effort to meet the need for a fully informed consent.

Sincerely,
Garry F. Gordon MD, DO, MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute