You remember Dr. Rashid Buttar, don't you? He's that blight on North Carolina's medical establishment, known for his "transdermal chelation therapy" that he's unable to demonstrate as being able to be absorbed through the skin, much less chelate anything (arguably a good thing, actually, because at least it probably doesn't hurt anyone, as a real transdermal chelation agent might). He's also known for some rather more--shall we say?--colorful "treatments" for autism (colorful as in "yellow"), not to mention IV ozone. He's also in trouble with the North Carolina Medical Board for using equally dubious therapies for cancer patients, all the while promising he could cure them. Unfortunately, the only thing he could cure them of is having excess cash in their wallets, as he charged exorbitant fees for his "services." He also charmingly likened the North Carolina Medical Board to a "rabid dog," what I would call a rather unwise thing to do, given that that board would decide his fate.
Well, Dr. Buttar had his practice restricted to exclude children (to keep him from treating autism) and cancer patients. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to have stopped him. Indeed, he's out there still, and he wants to hear from you. In fact, he wants to know:
(Warning: There's a video that autoplays there; so you might want to turn the sound off if you're in an environment where it might disturb others or embarrass you.)
I'm sure that you, my readers, can come up with some fantastic questions for Dr. Buttar to answer. In fact, so confident am I in your ability to ask really great, brief questions, that I'd love to see you send them to Dr. Buttar using the link above. Also, if it's not too much trouble, share them with me and my readers below in the comments, so that we can appreciate your incisiveness and discuss the questions.
Feel free to tell Dr. Buttar Orac sent you...
"Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"
I have a feeling that one's been used.
Sure.
1. Why isn't Minamata Bay or, say, towns along the Amazon river, widely known for their autistic populations?
2. Where are the case reports of children hospitalized for heavy metal poisoning who were initially thought to be autistic by mistake?
3. Name all papers showing that autistics have higher body burdens of heavy metals, after controlling for diet, pica and urbanicity.
4. How does a heavy metal poisoning causation model explain all the various neuroanatomical findings from studies of autistics?
5. Severe heavy metal poisoning is invariably fatal if not treated. Why isn't autism known as a condition that has a mortality rate?
6. How does a heavy metal poisoning model explain the most widely replicated findings in regards to autistic strengths, e.g. better than normal performance in block design tasks?
In light of studies that show a genetic link to autism, do you still believe that mercury in vaccines is the only cause of autism?
Also, in light of the fact that autism rates have not gone down since the removal of mercury from most vaccines, why do still think there is a link between mercury and autism?
Would you treat an autistic child with chelation therapy without first establishing that a child has excess mercury in his system? What level do you consider excessive? What is the level/range of the average non-autistic child?
You testified before congress that your son was autistic before you treated him with transdermal chelation of your own design. Are you able to provide evidence or documentation of his initial diagnosis and current scholastic placement?
The link to leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk won't work for me, but based on what you've written (and I'm probably way off base here):
Do you think that autism is like the Green Lantern?
Naw, I think I'll ask a question of you instead.
Orac, what do you see as the most likely course of action should a contagious human cancer appear? Like the ones found among dogs and tasmanian devils.
Hi Mr. Buttar,
I need some health advice. I was very concerned about "heavy metal toxicity," and knew iron was a major culprit, so I decided on chelation therapy. Unfortunately, that didn't get rid of every last bit of iron, so now I've decided to puncture my arteries in 50 places, to let my blood flow out, until a CBC finally comes back saying that my Fe, ferritin, and transferrin-saturation levels are zero. That's when I know that poisonous metal will be gone for good! However, while I'm waiting, I'm starting to feel kind of weak. Is this just my body battling those evil autism-causing metals? What should I do next? Should I chop off that extra lobe on my right lung, or shave off some of my left ventricle, to make sure everything in my body is more "in balance" and "in harmony?"
I'm eager to hear your response, because I really respect your amazing understanding of science and how the body works!
Oops, forgot to mention. I need a refill on that snakeoil. Can you oblige?
Alan, you don't need an oncologist to explain that. The devils only had a problem because their immune systems and genetics were so similar and the tend to bite one another.
If a group of humans had this state of affairs and infectious cancer appeared, you simply seperate the affected and affectable individuals, which would already be done for you by their low concentration in society.
Dr. Buttar, How do you feel about fruit fly research?
Don't you think it would be a great ad strategy if your website suggested that every time patients go to some inferior doctor who practices evidence-based medicine, they exclaim to themselves:
'I can't believe it's not Buttar!!'
Why, sir, would you subject children to this? What is *wrong* with you?
Adina FTW!!!
I have only one question. Why hasn't this nutcases' medical license been yanked? It's a discrace on the medical establishment of North Carolina that he is still practicing medicine there.
"How stupid do you think parents are?"
Let's see - 30 seconds of the Great Buttar's time works out to about $6.67, using his usual consulting fees. I can afford that.
My question is simply this:
Prometheus
Dr. Buttar,
Did that cream you rubbed on J.B. Handley's kid actually suck the autism out of him like you said it would?
Slightly off thread, but at the supermarket today I see a picture of Jenny McCarthy and her son on the cover of Self magazine with a headline about how she cured the boy.
I fear for Orac's arteries.
Off topic response - Jenny seems to be everywhere with her story of a miracle cure for Evan, I see.
http://www.usmagazine.com/news/jenny-mccarthy-my-son-is-no-longer-autis…
I just noticed this disclaimer on Buttar's web site:
If only that were true......
DT,
I've seen the same sort of disclaimers used by a lot of "alternative" practitioners. I suspect they don't want the burden of providing "routine" medical care.
They've found a lucrative and low-stress niche and don't want to be bothered with calls in the middle of the night for diaper rash, fever or vomiting. A few of them even charge their patients by the minute to talk to them on the telephone.
That should discourage those middle-of-the-night calls! It's a wonder that most doctors don't do that; apart from the ethical concerns, it seems like a great idea.
I doubt that Dr. Buttar - or many of the "alternative" practitioners - really want their patients to think of them as their primary doctor. They talk about being "holistic" (i.e. taking care of the "whole person") but don't want to be stuck taking care of all of the "whole person's" medical problems.
Just the ones that pay well.
Prometheus
Good point, Prometheus. The other day I needed a phone consultation with my son's pediatrician, and I begged her to bill me for the phone call, since it was 15 minutes of her time when she could have been seeing a patient! But she said, "Oh, no. We don't charge for phone calls."
Let's compare--
Real doctor: real medical advice over phone, no charge.
"Holistic doctor": potentially dangerous advice, for which you pay real money by the minute!
Nice.
As DT wrote, this page says:
This is an amusing word-choice error - I don't see any evidence that Dr. Buttar ever compliments (i.e. speaks well of) treatment received from primary care physicians, much less complements it (i.e. makes it complete). :)
D'oh - I screwed up the link. Should have said this page.