Well, looky here:
The ScienceBlogs Book Club is back!
From October 1 through October 10, we'll be discussing Autism's False Prophets, by Dr. Paul Offit.
Dr. Offit will be joined on the blog by a panel of experts, and we're inviting all of you to join in by reading the book at home, and contributing your thoughts, questions, and comments in the 'comments' section of the posts. Our panelists will be reading them and responding.
More good news: Columbia University Press is giving away 50 copies of Autism's False Prophets free to ScienceBlogs Book Club readers.
Here are the details.
Also, one of those panelists will be someone many of you know...
More like this
The ScienceBlogs Book Club is back! The online fans of dead-tree books will be springing back into action tomorrow to discuss Autism's False Prophets by Paul Offit. It's worth noting that Dr. Offit himself will be participating in the discussion, so you won't want to miss it.
I'm planning in…
Paul A. Offit, M.D., Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure. Columbia University Press, 2008.
Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure examines the ways that uncertainties about autism's causes have played out in the…
Case in point:
A few days ago, I sang the praises of last week's article in Wired magazine by Amy Wallace on pediatric infectious disease and immunology specialist, Dr Paul Offit, and the anti-vaccination movement in the US.
Wallace's article has been widely heralded by the scientific community…
Just in time for the introduction of Autism's False Prophets by Dr. Paul Offit (the current choice for Scienceblogs' book club), Jenny McCarthy comes out with yet another interview decrying vaccines, blaming autism on the greed of pharmaceutical companies, and how her son was "healed" from autism…
Dang, Amazon.co.uk has still not sent me my copy....
I see the given name "John," but the surname shifts from "Best" to "Scudamore" and back. Or was that given name "Dawn?"
"Also, one of those panelists will be someone many of you know..."
Jenny McCarthy is not on the list.
I'm in! I applied for one of the free books, too, to donate to our library since they don't have it.
Will wonders never cease.
US researchers call off controversial autism study
By Associated Press
September 17, 2008
Email| Print| Single Page| Yahoo! Buzz| ShareThisText size - + CHICAGO--A government agency has dropped plans for a study of a controversial treatment for autism that critics had called an unethical experiment on children.
The National Institute of Mental Health said in a statement Wednesday that the study of the treatment -- called chelation -- has been abandoned. The agency decided the money would be better used testing other potential therapies for autism and related disorders, the statement said.
The study had been on hold because of safety concerns after another study published last year linked a drug used in the treatment to lasting brain problems in rats.
Chelation (kee-LAY'-shun) removes heavy metals from the body and is used to treat lead poisoning. Its use as an autism treatment is based on the fringe theory that mercury in vaccines triggers autism -- a theory never proved and rejected by mainstream science. Mercury hasn't been in childhood vaccines since 2001, except for certain flu shots.
But many parents of autistic children are believers in the treatment, and NIMH agreed to test it.
The researchers had proposed recruiting 120 autistic children ages 4 to 10 and giving half a chelation drug and the other half a dummy pill. The 12-week test would measure before-and-after blood mercury levels and autism symptoms.
The study outline said that failing to find a difference between the two groups would counteract "anecdotal reports and widespread belief" that chelation works.
In canceling the study, the agency noted it would take another year to review of the study and three years to do it. In the meantime, the agency said it was likely that other research would "provide deeper understanding of the causes of autism and more refined avenues for developing treatments."
"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. "It is to be hoped that the NIMH will continue its commitment to research into preventable risks for autism spectrum disorders."
© Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
On Boston.com
I see that they canceled the study. I see the quote from Ellen Silbergeld of JHU's Bloomberg School of Public Health. I just don't see any reason given why the study was canceled.
See http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/09/chelation_study_for_autism_to… and
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=118
Main reason: no real reason to do it.