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US researchers call off controversial autism study
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-18 11:04 NIMH should reconsider its decision to cancel the chelation study, said Rebecca Estepp, national manager of Talk About Curing Autism, a support group for families with autistic children. "By discontinuing this study, the NIMH will not prove the effectiveness of chelation therapy one way or another. Instead, they have merely left parents with more unanswered questions," Estepp said in a statement. But several scientists praised the decision, including the lead author of the rat study, which found lingering problems in animals that did not have elevated lead levels. "I think they're making the right decision not to go forward with the study," said Barbara Strupp, a professor of psychology and nutritional sciences at Cornell University. "Our data raise concerns about administering (the chelation compound) to children who do not have elevated levels of heavy metals," Strupp said. Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, agreed with the decision to cancel. "Suppose that a child suffers a severe side effect from chelation," said Offit, author of "Autism's False Prophets," a new book on autism research. "Without any evidence it's helpful, I think it's unethical." The chelation drug proposed for the study, DMSA, can cause side effects including rashes and low white blood cell count. "This was a wise and careful decision," said Ellen Silbergeld of Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, who had been invited to comment on the study during an earlier review, in an e-mail. |
