There is so little intelligent medical reporting in the media, that I am surprised to occasionally find something sensible in a major publication.
The conference is a veritable festival of unproven claims, offering a powerful but false message of hope to parents who are desperately searching for new treatments for their children.[1]
Why do the media so often ignore the harm that is done to children in the name of hope?
Why do the media not understand the damage of this witchcraft?
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The one thing that most of these presentations have in common is that the speaker is moking money from selling their so-called treatments. For example, Anat Baniel offers her self-named “Anat Baniel method” and is promoting it through ads in the conference program. Other speakers are offering special diets, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and in perhaps the most damaging treatment, Mark and David Geier’s chemical castration therapy.[1]
Castrate your children to protect them?
If any other group were proposing this, there would be outrage, but the media encourages this child abuse.
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Unfortunately, the anti-science commenters have already begun defending their conspiracy theories and defending the selling of quack products to vulnerable parents. Some people have no shame.
Here is part of one comment –
Just because you may be unfamilar with a treatment method, or haven’t been able to find various research papers or clinical trial results on the subject, doesn’t mean a treatment doesn’t work. One must never assume.[1]
It is true that the lack of research does not mean that the treatment definitely does not work, but that lack of research does absolutely nothing to encourage poisoning our children with these quack remedies.
This person assumes too much in assuming that the snake oil he is buying selling is not dangerous.
why would anyone assume that these unproven treatments work? Just because a sympathetic appearing salesperson claims to have seen it work?
Thalidomide worked, but it had nasty little side effects. Those side effects harmed children. Thalidomide had more evidence of benefit than the quackery being sold by these frauds.
Should any of us assume this with our children?
Is castration right for your child? We do not have any evidence to demonstrate safety, but we can assure you that if you can afford it, your child needs it.
Should any of us treat our children with chemicals that have never even be shown to be safe?
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Footnotes:
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[1] Nobel laureate joins anti-vaccination crowd at Autism One
Steven Salzberg
Forbes
5/27/2012 @ 1:53PM
Article
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Nice to see that Forbes saw the conference for what it really was.
Sad news to hear about Dr. Montagnier going off the deep end into pseudoscience. Just more evidence that even the most well respected names need to be held to the same level of accountability as any other scientist:
Linus Pauling, one of the greatest chemists of the 20th century, was the first big force behind vitamin mega-dosing
Martin Fleischmann, a pioneering electrochemist, was co-author of the infamous first “cold fusion” paper.
And now Dr. Montagnier, who shared the Nobel Prize for linking AIDS to HIV, thinks DNA emits electromagnetic radiation and supports homeopathy.
It gets worse, much worse. MMS is a product for which the FDA has issued a consumer warning: “FDA warned consumers not to consume or use Miracle Mineral Solution, an oral liquid solution also known as “Miracle Mineral Supplement” or “MMS.” The product, when used as directed, produces an industrial bleach that can cause serious harm to health. The product instructs consumers to mix the 28 percent sodium chlorite solution with an acid such as citrus juice. This mixture produces chlorine dioxide, a potent bleach used for stripping textiles and industrial water treatment. High oral doses of this bleach, such as those recommended in the labeling, can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and symptoms of severe dehydration.”
So Autism One promoted MMS orally, rectally, and on the skin as a “cure” for autism.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/06/11/miracle-mineral-solution-mms-and-autism-apologists-strike-back/