Misinformation factory: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has deleted a web page that cautioned people against using unproven and potentially harmful autism treatments, according to journalists at The BMJ and Disability Scoop. A spokesperson at the FDA confirmed the removal but couched it as routine cleanup of dated material. In an email to The Transmitter, Helen Tager-Flusberg, professor emerita of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University, described her concern that these changes will put autistic children in danger. “Parents have come to expect that their government will provide them with the right guidance on the best treatments for their autistic children … Now, for no reason, the FDA is abdicating their responsibility,” she wrote.
The page warned against such “treatments” as chelation therapies, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, detoxifying clay baths, raw camel milk, chlorine dioxide and essential oils. Some of the cited products and so-called therapies have led to deaths, according to Tager-Flusberg. The FDA site is not the only U.S. government website to assert specious information about autism—in November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that the disproven vaccine-autism link was still an open question, The Transmitter has reported.
Autism research spotted this week:
- “Cortical thickness and curvature in autism and ADHD: A mega-analysis” bioRxiv
