The clinics peddling poison
Pure evil: Unscrupulous clinics are promoting stem-cell ‘cures’ for autism. Picture: Dim Hou/Unsplash
News reports about a doctor offering stem-cell treatments to ‘cure’ autism have left me raging.
The Metropolitan Police are investigating the adverts, which appeared in London, offering injections to make autistic children neurotypical.
A spokesperson for the Royal Borough of Greenwich said, ‘An individual claiming to be a doctor plans to visit the UK to offer dangerous, experimental procedures on children with autism.
‘We understand that this person is proposing the transfer of bone marrow and spinal fluid to the brain by injection. This unlicensed procedure poses a significant threat to life and there is no evidence of any benefits.’
The authority is asking parents to make contact if they’ve been approached by anyone offering this ‘treatment’, while Newham Council has also warned about a ‘potential threat to children’.
Medical fraud
The Met told the BBC it was investigating ‘a reported fraud relating to the provision of medical services’ and that it was working to uncover the advertiser’s location and identity.
There are concerns parents living elsewhere in the UK could also be tempted by the offer of a ‘miracle cure’. In an advisory note, Nottingham Safeguarding Children Partnership warned off those in its area, again stressing that it’s an unlicensed procedure.
Stem cells can be included in regimes for blood and immune disorders, but they’re not approved in the UK as a treatment for autism. That’s because, as Greenwich council pointed out, there’s no evidence their use is beneficial to autistic people.
Declan Murphy, Professor of Neurodevelopment at King’s College London, said, ‘Indeed, the current evidence shows the opposite – it shows that they are ineffective and come with very significant risks.’
Nazi eugenics
I’m angry enough that some snake oil salesman is preying on parents of autistic youngsters with a fake – and potentially dangerous – ‘cure’, but what really gets me foaming at the mouth is the implication autism is something that requires fixing.
Go online and it’s not hard to find stem cell clinics making horrifying claims about autism. They’re based overseas but targeting an English-speaking market.
One says after stem-cell treatment for our ‘disease’, we will become ‘more adequate and diligent’ and display ‘increased environmental compliance’.
Another claims – quite wrongly – that we have damaged immune systems and, that by reducing blood supply to the brain, autism is destroying our brain cells. Obviously, they maintain they can fix this – provided you throw enough money at them.
How dare anyone suggest that I, or those like me, should be changed to suit their idea of what’s acceptable. It’s a small step from here to Nazi eugenics.
There is no cure or fix for autism, nor should there be. Autism isn’t a disease; it’s a difference. Autistics aren’t broken; we’re absolutely fine as we are. It’s the people who believe this sort of nonsense that are the problem.