I'm not anti-cure or pro-cure, but I agree that this is horrible. Why is chelation therapy being used when its never been proven that it works? I hope we don't have it here in Australia, I am a first year nursing student and from what I've gathered so far in my course it's pretty difficult to get medications/therapies accepted for use here. Somebody tell me if it is, because it would be infuriating to have such a thing here.
I found this on the net:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate of more than 1 in 166 = children diagnosed with autism is up from 1 in 2,500 since the 1970s
(Autism Digest, 2005).
If the amount of auties with heavy metals really is only 1 in 166, then why is it being offered as a cure-for-all? Shouldn't they test first for whether they have heavy metals in their blood before they undergo chelation? Even if I wanted a cure (which I don't), I wouldn't have chelation with a 1 in 166 chance of success, with no proof, and with the dangers involved. Why are parents using it for their children? Do health professionals tell people about the lack of proof, and the risks? If they really did, then I would think that nobody would offer their child for chelation.
I don't think that cure is necessarily bad. But if people are going to be given shonky therapies, and have their quite reasonable fears about autism exploited by the health system, then I am completely against it.
Let's wait until the autopsy results come out before drawing any real and firm conclusions though. Unlikely though it may seem he could have died from something completly unrelated to chelation so: Innocent until proven guilty and not the other way round.
Well, whether or not this poor young lad died from the chelation therapy (I use this word very loosely), it appears to be a very stupid idea and there are a lot of gullible people out there.