Hello Friends
I have been so involved with getting information out about the bad politics and unethical business practices of the pharmacuetical companies that I have neglected to mention much about tis wonderful organization. The National Autism Association. They are free to join and the benefits are tremendous for anyone with concerns about autistic spectrum disorders.
Here is the latest update that I have received from them.
National Autism Association
February 7, 2006
In this edition of NAA News & Views:
Featured Child
3rd Annual Long Island Autism Fair
Special Offer on ionKids from Bluespan
Last Chance for autographed "Evidence of Harm" Hardcover
In the News
Featured Product
If you are unable to view html formatted email, please visit our website to view this newsletter at http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/newsandviews.
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Featured Child
Beau
You can find Beau and the faces of many other precious children on our Wall of Hope.
If you’d like to add your loved one with an autism spectrum disorder, simply sign up for a free NAA membership and email your photo to wendy@nationalautism.org.
More information can be found on our website at
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/wallofhope.php.
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The Long Island Chapter of the National Autism Association is presenting the 3rd Annual Long Island Autism Fair & Conference on Saturday & Sunday, April 1st & 2nd. It's no April Fools joke- we've got some GREAT speakers. There are three different tracks and 5 breakouts per day. Saturday's "Alternative Treatments" track includes: Dr. Seth Pearl, John Kernohan, Betsy Hicks, Dr. Michael Elice, Allan Goldblatt and Dr. Matthew Lewis. Sunday's "Biomedical for Beginners" tracks includes: Dr. William Shaw, Dr. Arthur Krigsman, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, Julia & Baxter Berle, Dr. Jeff Bradstreet and Keynote Speaker, David Kirby.
Conference Tickets can be bought for one or both days. Prices range from $60-75 per day and NAA members get a discount. Use the discount code: fair10 for 1 day conference tickets ($10 savings) and discount code: fair30 ($30 savings) for 2 day conference tickets.
Some of the 50 or so vendors will be; Oxyhealth, Hopewell Pharmacy, Lewis Wellness, Great Plains Lab, the International Hyperbarics Association, and Wellness Health + Pharmacy. Others include: Future Horizons, Natural Learning Concepts, Different Roads to Learning, Advanced Multimedia Devices, and Pyramid Educational Consultants. We'll also have about 10-20 local agencies, organizations and schools.
Everyone is invited to participate. Check out our website for information on tickets, sponsorships, vendors tables, program ads, and our FREE general information tables. http://www.autismfair.com.
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A Special Offer from Bluespan
Peace of Mind at the Touch of a Button TM
Dear Friends,
NAA sponsor, Bluespan, the maker of ionKids, has just received the seal of excellence from Exceptional Parent magazine! In their continuing support of NAA and the autism community, they are extending a special offer to everyone who purchases a Starter Kit through NAA. All orders placed from 2/1/06 through 3/15/06 will include a free Tag Holder. The Tag Holder provides a different housing for children who may have sensory issues with wearing a wristband. ionKids can monitor a variable distance for up to four children at the same time. The system sets a perimeter around you that lets you know when your child wanders outside of the preset range. ionKids consists of a rechargeable Base Unit for the parent and a rechargeable Wristag or Tag Holder for the child. The system can monitor your children from 10 feet up to a football field in length. When a child goes out of your preset range you can either give them more room to explore or if you cannot see them you can use the FIND feature to point you in the direction you need to go to locate them. The product has recently received rave reviews on Montel Williams, Fox News as well as NBC and ABC news stations.
Please visit our online store for more information on this great product!
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=ionKidsKit
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LAST CHANCE!
David Kirby has generously offered to autograph our few remaining hardcover copies of Evidence of Harm. Don't miss this final opportunity to get a 1st edition hardcover, signed copy of the book that has changed the way the world looks at autism.
Click here to order:
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=Evidence
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IN THE NEWS
Drug error, not chelation therapy, killed boy, expert says
By Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06018/639721.stm
One of the nation's foremost experts in chelation therapy said she has determined "without a doubt" that it was medical error, and not the therapy itself, that led to the death of a 5-year-old boy who was receiving it as a treatment for autism.
Dr. Mary Jean Brown, chief of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said yesterday that Abubakar Tariq Nadama died Aug. 23 in his Butler County doctor's office because he was given the wrong chelation agent.
"It's a case of look-alike/sound-alike medications," she said yesterday. "The child was given Disodium EDTA instead of Calcium Disodium EDTA. The generic names are Versinate and Endrate. They sound alike. They're clear and colorless and odorless. They were mixed up."
Both types of EDTA are synthetic amino acids that latch onto heavy metals in the bloodstream.
Dr. Brown said she obtained the child's autopsy report on behalf of the CDC after reading an article about the death in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She said it didn't take long to figure out what had happened.
Essentially, Tariq died from low blood calcium. Without enough calcium -- a metal -- in the blood, the heart stops beating. Dr. Brown said the Disodium EDTA the child was given as a chelation agent "acted as a claw that pulled too much calcium" from his blood.
"The blood calcium level was below 5 [milligrams]. That's an emergency event," she said.
Officials from the state police, the district attorney's office and the coroner's office will meet soon to decide whether to hold an inquest into the child's death and whether it should remain listed as accidental.
Dr. Brown said the same mix-up happened in two other recent cases: a 2-year-old girl in Texas who died in May during chelation for lead poisoning and a woman from Oregon who died three years ago while receiving chelation for clogged arteries.
Dr. Brown said that in each case, the blood calcium level was below 5 milligrams. Normal is between 7 and 9.
The correct chelation agent -- Calcium Disodium EDTA -- would not have pulled the calcium from the bloodstream, she said.
The Butler County coroner's office confirmed last week that Tariq had died as a result of his chelation treatment, but the findings that were released didn't indicate whether the treatment had been improperly administered.
Dr. Brown said chelation was once a common and necessary therapy that was used on children and adults alike for lead poisoning. Chelation means administering an agent into the bloodstream that causes heavy metals in the body to cling to it and then be excreted in urine.
Though its only approved use, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is for lead poisoning, Dr. Brown said she is aware that it is used by some people for other medical problems, ranging from clogged arteries to autism.
She said there have been no reputable medical trials demonstrating the effectiveness of chelation as a therapy for anything but lead poisoning. But if it were administered accurately, the procedure would be harmless.
She said it is well known within the medical community that Disodium EDTA should never be used as a chelation agent. She quoted from a 1985 CDC statement: "Only Calcium Disodium EDTA should be used. Disodium EDTA should never be used ... because it may induce fatal hypocalcemia, low calcium and tetany."
"There is no doubt that this was an unintended use of Disodium EDTA. No medical professional would ever have intended to give the child Disodium EDTA," Dr. Brown said.
Tariq was brought to the United States from England last spring by his mother, Marwa, for the chelation therapy. He was in the Portersville, Butler County, office of Dr. Roy Eugene Kerry when he went into cardiac arrest.
In recent months, chelation treatments of a wide variety ranging from IV to oral to topical have been gaining popularity for autistic children due to anecdotal information from parents indicating a reduction in symptoms. The underlying belief is that autism is caused by a sensitivity to heavy metals in the bloodstream.
Howard Carpenter, executive director of the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders -- the largest autism advocacy group in the region -- said the determination by Dr. Brown clears up the mystery surrounding Tariq's death but not the uncertainty over chelation itself.
"Since this child died, there have been parents who are pro-chelation who have been very angry that there's talk against it. On the other side, they say the death was a natural consequence of a dangerous activity. Maybe what happened to [Tariq] is explained, but we still don't have a conclusion about whether chelation is an effective treatment for autism," he said.
Tariq's father is a medical doctor who practices in England.
Dr. Kerry could not be reached for comment. A board-certified physician and surgeon, he advertises himself as an ear, nose and throat doctor who also specializes in allergies and environmental medicine.
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FEATURED PRODUCT
A Special Gift for your Valentine...
I Love Someone with Autism
Cotton Crew Neck T-Shirt
Only $12.00 in
NAA's Little Shop of Hope!
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/proddetail.php?prod=ILoveSomeoneRedHearts
Visit our website for product details or to place your order.
The National Autism Association is a non-profit organization. Your purchase in our online store generates proceeds for autism research and family-care programs. Thank you for your support!
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This publication is the property of the National Autism Association. Please contact NAA with any questions, concerns, or comments at naa@nationalautism.org. Articles, photographs, etc. can be submitted to Wendy Fournier at wendy@nationalautism.org.
To receive NAA News and Views, sign up for our free membership at http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/join.php.
The NAA Team
Think Autism. Think Cure.
May a smile follow you to sleep each night,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
and be there waiting,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
when you awaken.
Sincerly, Bill Vanderbilt
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