AutismOne is the crank conference for all manner of quack "cures", "treatments" and "causes" (namely vaccines) for autism spectrum disorders. The speakers and nostrums being touted at AutismOne are nothing short of child abuse of special needs children. I have compiled a short list of the most notable "doctors" who Ms. McCarthy signs on to present at AutismOne year after year:
Andrew Wakefield has been named by TIME magazine, one of the great science frauds. Dr. Wakefield has been struck of the UK's General Medical Council (analogous to the U.S.'s American Medical Association) for over 40 counts of unethical behaviours regarding his treatment of special needs children and others. Dr. Wakefield has also committed fraud regarding his findings that autism was caused by the MMR vaccine by fabricating data. These studies were subsequently retracted.
Arthur Krigsman is a gastroenterologist who supports Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent science regarding MMR and autism. He has been disciplined in numerous states for his own unethical behaviour.
Anjum Usman is being sued along with Dr. Dan Rossignol by a parent of an autistic child for unethical medical treatment of his child with chelation. Dr. Rossignol didn't even examine the child yet prescribed chelation based upon bogus tests performed by Dr. Usman. The father charges that his child has suffered harm as a result. Illinois regulators are also seeking charges against Dr. Usman for, "“unprofessional, unethical and/or dishonorable conduct.”
Jeffrey Bradstreet has been lambasted by OAP Special Masters for his unethical and unsubstantiated treatment of autistic children with dangerous and unproven therapies including chelation, HBOT and potent prescription medications. Dr. Bradstreet also recommends exorcism for the "treatment" of autism. Additionally, Dr. Bradstreet recommends stem cell therapy which is a potentially dangerous and completely untested therapy for autism. Dr. Bradstreet even recommends unscrupulous, unregulated off-shore clinics. Dr. Bradstreet also recommends "fecal transplants" for autistic children which is every bit as dreadful as it sounds. Dr. Bradstreet tries to medicalise the procedure and provides instructions for laypeople, however parents' "biomed" discussion boards convey do-it-yourself "fecal transplants" based upon Dr. Bradstreet's advice that don't involve "donor" testing and amount to having a family member defecate in a bucket, mix it with some water, put the faecal slurry in a pastry bag and force the contents into the rectum of the autistic child.
Dr. Mark Geier and his son David Geier regularly present at AutismOne conferences. Dr. Mark Geier's medical licence has been either suspended or revoked in all thirteen states he was licensed. Additional charges against Dr. Geier are pending. David Geier has been charged with practising medicine without a license. The reason that the Geier's have faced these charges is for using a powerful chemical-castration drug, Lupron in larger-than-adult-doses on autistic children and then chelating them. This practise is extremely dangerous, cruel and has no medical basis whatsoever. The Geier's also justify their use of Lupron to insurance companies by coding for "precocious puberty" even in teenage patients. A fuller explanation of the Geier's gruesome experimentation on autistic children can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Mayer Eisenstein has also had actions brought against him for insurance fraud and several civil malpractice and fraud suits; this is just one of the doctors that work for Eisenstein. Dr. Eisenstein proudly announces his anti-vaccine stance and is in business with the Geier's injecting autistic children with Lupron and chelating them. Dr. Eisenstein is a regular fixture of AutismOne.
Kerri Rivera was a speaker at AutismOne this year and last year and presented her "cure" of autism with Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) which is an industrial bleach. Ms. Rivera is not a doctor and promotes the use of MMS as an enema, drink and bath to "cure" autism ( http://www.
I urge you to write to ABC here and/or please sign the Change.org petition to let ABC know just who they are courting for one of their shows. For the sake of brevity, you can link to this post to highlight Ms. McCarthy's dissemination of abusive "treatments" of special needs children.
Just a quick correction: Mark Geier has had his license suspended or revoked in every state in which he was licensed to practice. Here's the latest update I have: http://www.harpocratesspeaks.com/2013/05/mark-geier-not-leg-to-stand-on.html
ReplyDeleteThanks Todd, I will edit that. I don't know why I missed that when validating my links so my apologies. And also my gratitude for doing such a thorough and excellent job of tracking the Geiers' rightful downfall.
ReplyDeleteThanks Science Mom for this excellent article. Thanks too, for permission to link to your article...which I have already posted on Phil Plait's blog. I'm encouraging the other Slate posters to write to the ABC TV Feedback Page...and to provide the link to Just the Vax.
ReplyDeleteThanks lilady, the more signatures and impact we can make, the more likely ABC is to dump Jenny like the public health menace she is.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that is the case. I think they might like the controversy.
DeleteIt looks like you might be right STP. Although their decision is not being well-received at all even on ABC's own website.
DeleteThank you. I'm the author of the The Atlantic piece and saw your comment there. This is a good addition. I hope you forward my Atlantic article through the autism community, and I'll definitely be reposting this one.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to track, you could come find me at my public facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/ProfessorDMPerry
DeleteI've already posted a comment on your excellent article at The Atlantic...and I've linked to your article on the Respectful Insolence blog.
DeleteWould Wakefield be arrested if he returned to England?
ReplyDeleteIf so, maybe we need to lobby for his visa to be revoked.
As delicious as that sounds Christopher, he hasn't been found guilty of any criminal activities so the answer is "no". He would however not be well-received there and no employment prospects. He's doing a fine job of conning his U.S. supporters to finance his lifestyle however so why throw that away?
DeleteOne doesn't have to be "found guilty" to be arrested. Apparently, he can't even be charged.
DeletePetition signed. Ms. McCarthy and her dangerous propaganda don't need a legitimate platform.
ReplyDeleteThanks Science Mom! I'm glad to have come across your blog and posted a link to this article on Facebook. The thought of giving this dangerous pseudoscientist a broader range to a national audience is scary. She's done enough damage already. It's sad to see cases of measles and measles-related deaths rising in the U.S. and U.K. Your fortitude in arguing point to point with some of the non-scientists, (or more accurately, anti-scientists,) who reply to your blog is admirable if not utterly exhausting for you! Has there been a single case where one of them, after you win on a fact-based level, was big enough to admit that they were wrong?
ReplyDeleteNow what I will be most anxious to see, if the public is successful at preventing Ms. McCarthy from being hired by ABC, are the anitvaxxers' elaborate theories of big-pharma being behind the suppression of truth! Since you are a "shill" for them, how big was your last check? ;) I've YET to receive mine!
Thanks again and keep fighting the good fight!
The Witch Hunt of Jenny McCarthy for Talking About Vaccines
ReplyDeletePlease look at just a handful of the comments that follow this article. These are real people with stories of vaccine harm. They are not public health menaces, SM. You can call Mercola a salesman and a marketing wizard all you want, but it does not change the salient fact that people are having adverse reactions to vaccines. whether they are immediate and obvious reactions, or rather more sublte and delayed - they do exist! And the public bashing of a pretty famous and successful woman like Jenny McCarthy is not going to make them go away!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/08/06/jenny-mccarthy-vaccine-talk.aspx?e_cid=20130806_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20130806
"but it does not change the salient fact that people are having adverse reactions to vaccines. whether they are immediate and obvious reactions, or rather more sublte and delayed - they do exist!"
DeleteThat has never been denied. Which is why the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has a table of injuries where payment is made fairly quickly.
Now what you need to answer, dear brave Anonymous, is the verifiable evidence that the injuries from the vaccines exceed that of the injuries from the actual diseases. Just provide the PubMed indexed study from a qualified reliable researcher that any vaccine on the American pediatric schedule is more dangerous than the disease.
These are real people with stories of vaccine harm. They are not public health menaces, SM.
DeleteYou mean like Desiree Jennings? Anecdotes do not equal data Anonymous. We know there are adverse effects of vaccines up to and including death. But we also know that most of these claims are the result of wishful-thinking and not based in biological plausibility. Ms. McCarthy can't even keep her own story straight and has waffled between absolutely knowing it was MMR that gave her son autism and absolutely knowing that it was "too many too soon". Dumb celebrities have no business dabbling in public health and I'm glad to see the overwhelming negative response to her by lay people.
and wasn't Evan a "Crystal child" and Jenny "Indigo" before he had MMR-induced autism?!
DeleteOne word. SNOPES. Google it. Use it. Especially whenever you feel like citing mercola et al.
DeleteToxins are ok, it appears, including anti-freeze, when you are PAID to advertise them.
ReplyDeleteWow. You people are scary. Hope a loved one of yours is not diagnosed autistic.
ReplyDeleteWhy is that Wally?
Delete