DAN! doctor charged in chelation death: Roy E. Kerry
Dr. Roy E. Kerry is a board certified Ear, Nose, Throat doctor with a history of practicing chelation on old people for their hardened arteries. This type of chelation practice can be quite profitable and almost always offers infusions of disodium EDTA because the idea is that the calcium in the arterial plaques is going to get pulled out (chelated) by the EDTA. In real life, it doesn't work that way, chelation doesn't do anything for heart disease, but hey, it's a money maker, right?
Roy Kerry was just expanding his practice to include autistic kids. Abubakar was referred to Kerry by widely beloved DAN! doctor, Anju Usman. Unfortunately, Abubakar's mother or mother and father didn't consider what they were getting into when the went to see Usman who says she never say an autistic kid who wasn't heavy metal poisoned. Surely they didn't consider that Kerry might end up killing their sweet little boy. Surely the organization Defeat Autism Now! had plenty of time to consider what had happened to Abubakar when they decided to make Kerry a DAN! doctor. They seem to have quietly removed a convicted child molester from their rolls around February of this year, will they likewise remove a man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case of one of his autistic patients? What about the other DAN! guys and gals who have been in trouble with their medical boards and the law in general and what about all the DAN!s who are practicing far outside their training with no board certifications in pediatrics or even family practice at all and the ones with the dodgy educational backgrounds?
Autism Diva
auri sacra fames
Roy Kerry was just expanding his practice to include autistic kids. Abubakar was referred to Kerry by widely beloved DAN! doctor, Anju Usman. Unfortunately, Abubakar's mother or mother and father didn't consider what they were getting into when the went to see Usman who says she never say an autistic kid who wasn't heavy metal poisoned. Surely they didn't consider that Kerry might end up killing their sweet little boy. Surely the organization Defeat Autism Now! had plenty of time to consider what had happened to Abubakar when they decided to make Kerry a DAN! doctor. They seem to have quietly removed a convicted child molester from their rolls around February of this year, will they likewise remove a man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case of one of his autistic patients? What about the other DAN! guys and gals who have been in trouble with their medical boards and the law in general and what about all the DAN!s who are practicing far outside their training with no board certifications in pediatrics or even family practice at all and the ones with the dodgy educational backgrounds?
Doctor Charged in Autistic Boy's Death
By JOE MANDAK | Associated Press Writer
2:49 PM EDT, August 22, 2007
PITTSBURGH - A doctor was charged with involuntary manslaughter Wednesday for administering a chemical treatment that state police say killed a 5-year-old autistic boy.
The child, Abubakar Tariq Nadama, went into cardiac arrest at Dr. Roy E. Kerry's office immediately after undergoing chelation therapy on Aug. 23, 2005.
Chelation removes heavy metals from the body and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating acute heavy metal poisoning, but not for treating autism. Some people who believe autism is caused by a mercury-containing preservative once used in vaccines say chelation may also help autistic children.
The boy's parents had moved from England to the Pittsburgh area to seek treatment for his autism. They have filed a wrongful death suit against Kerry, and the Department of State is trying to revoke his license.
The Department of State has alleged that Kerry prescribed an IV push -- meaning the drugs are administered in one dose intravenously -- despite warnings that the method could be lethal.
Slippery Rock District Judge Clifford Woessner's staff confirmed that an arrest warrant was issued for Kerry. It wasn't immediately clear if police planned to arrest Kerry or mail a summons.
Kerry's Advanced Integrative Medicine has offices in Greenville and Potersville. The receptionist at the Greenville office said Kerry was treating patients and was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
Autism Diva
auri sacra fames
posted by Autism Diva at 2:11 PM
28 Comments:
it's good that a case is finally being brought, though a shame that it has taken so long. Scary that Kerry is still able to practise medicine, though (did attempts to have him struck off ever get anywhere?)
The article said, "the Department of State is trying to revoke his license."
Apparently this is something that isn't done quickly, but it HAS been two years now...
---sigh---
One positive thing that might come out of these cases (the civil and criminal) is that Kerry might start pointing fingers at who told him that mercury causes autism and chelation cures it. There may be discussions of which laboratories gave which misleading results, etc. The whole "biomed" chelation DAN! house of cards may come down.
There's a new book coming out next year, too, Defeating Autism: A damaging delusion" by Michael Fitzpatrick (a father of an autistic boy and MD) it will be out of the UK, not sure if it will be sold on Amazon.com in the US... hopefully it will be.
Sorry, read the article too quickly. In my defence, the state board started disciplinary action 11.5 months ago, so I kind-of assumed that this would have concluded by now. Not something that happens quickly, as you say.
One positive thing that might come out of these cases (the civil and criminal) is that Kerry might start pointing fingers at who told him that mercury causes autism and chelation cures it. There may be discussions of which laboratories gave which misleading results, etc. The whole "biomed" chelation DAN! house of cards may come down.
I hope that you're right, and that Fitzpatrick's book is able to benefit from that climate that this creates.
The way that Wakefield the UK MSM has dealt with Wakefield's case (e.g. not covering the Autism Omnibus at all, to the extent that I've spent a good while trying to convince one paper that the Omnibus even discussed his 'science') leaves me rather pessimistic about how (or if) any emerging evidence will be dealt with in the UK media. Hopefully US and web media will do a better job, though, and the UK MSM may surprise me ;)
Sorry, anti-media rant over, anyway...
Diva, checked Amazon.com, and the book is listed as available for pre-order. It appears it will be published here at the same time as it is in the UK.
Jon,
Don't be embarrassed, Autism Diva was just about ready to hit "publish" on blogger here when she read the article closely and saw that it said they were still working on taking away his license. It's hard to believe it's been 2 years since Abubakar died.
Persephone, thank you very much. Autism Diva had not yet looked on Amazon.com and was pretty sure it wouldnt' be there at least not for a while.
About freaking time.
thanks. And yeah, about time.
"Next month, he is to face a hearing before the state Board of Medicine on six counts that include engaging in unprofessional conduct and breaching the standard of care for administering the chelation treatment in a push form and for using the wrong solution.
If any of the allegations are found to be true, he could have his license suspended and be fined"
I hope it comes to court and Usman is called as a witness to explain why she sent Tariq to Kerry. They should also call McCandless and ask her to explain what sort of training she gave fter Tariq's death that allowed him to become a DAN! practitioner
The whole "biomed" chelation DAN! house of cards may come down.
That's what we all say about the Diva--she is ever the optimist!
Matt
Jon,
While you're ranting about the media -- my objections are mainly around the extremely poor capability to publish any meaningful commentary on any study -- I'll rant about medical professional boards. Doctor's are notoriously bad at disciplining their own, even when they follow standard medicine. It is no wonder that medical error is one of the leading causes of death.
Jon,
OMG, I just read your link. Despite my opinion on the Omnibus trial, your assessment of the reporting wrt to MMR is 100% correct.
That kind of reporting just drives me up the wall.
If he is found guilty, this will throw a serious monkey wrench into DAN!. Seeing them go the way of the amalgam removers is not as far fetched as it may seem.
hm, this has made the UK media as well - e.g. the telegraph
In terms of medical boards, it does seem a mystery why this has taken so long for a decision.
As to the Telegraph report--
Wow!
the ACAM person claims that this would be the first case of death by chelation since the 1950's?
Where has this guy been?
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/mmwrnews/n060302.htm#3
Matt
yeah - maybe you could e-mail the Telegraph a correction. Newspapers do have a depressing tendency to 'report both sides' - even when one side is clearly either lying or misinformed.
I understand that as a group active in finding treatments for autism you enter the debate on Dr. Kerry's actions with pre-established on him. However, I would just like to give you the perspective from a patient of his. Although I live near the Pittsburgh era, which has some of the best hospitals in the country, after a year of chronic pain for which not one of the dozens of doctors I saw, Dr. Kerry is the only doctor i have found that is willing to continue to look for not on a treatment, but a cause to my problem. So, before you all help seal this man's fate, please consider the thousands of people he has helped over decades of practice. The death of anyone is tragic, let alone that of a child. I have no idea of the specifics regarding the danger level of this treatment, let alone if the boy's parents were informed. But, if someone is willing to move to another continent please consider why the parents sought out a small rural practice instead of one of the hundreds of specialists in the area's renowned hospitals. Dr. Kerry has been helping patients in Butler County since before I was born. If his licenses is suspended or revoked hundreds of patients like myself will have to again begin the search for a doctor who actually cares about the patient. I don't think i can stand the constant referral from doctor to doctor just because I have a rare problem which does not fit neatly into someone's specialty.
Gradguy
Roy, Kerry, an ENT specialist with no board certification in pediatrics or autism is contacted by Dr Usman from Defeat Autism Now! about Tariq, a five year old autistic patient. She says he has high levels of aluminium and wants him to perform chelation with an IV infusion of calcium disodium EDTA (Versenate). Kerry does not use Versenate. He does chelate adults with disodium EDTA (Endrate) on a regular basis.
What should the good doctor do?
A)Say, "Sorry, I cannot treat this child?"
B)Order some Versenate?
C)Chelate him with Endrate?
Kerry chose C.
Tariq is brought to the surgery. Mum has left most of his medical notes in the UK but the doctor is consulting with Dr Usman via the telephone.
Kerry's case notes record that Tariq is "very energetic" and "happy."
Because Tariq is so lively Kerry does not think he will be tolerate the recommended slow infusion. Decision time again
A)Say, "Sorry, I cannot treat this child?"
B)Postpone the treatment.
C)Give a concentrated solution via rapid IV push rather than a dilute solution via slow infusion.
Kerry chose C.
Even so it takes his mother plus three other adults and a papoose board to restrain Tariq while Kerry chelates him.
After chelation the lab reports levels of lead in the normal range. no mention of any other metals except iron, which is low.
Decision time again
A)Say, "Your child does not need this treatment."
B)Recommend treatment for iron deficiency.
C)Repeat the treatment.
Kerry chose C. The second time he supervised a medical assistant who administered the IV push. Kerry was surprized that Tariq's levels for lead were still low. So he decided to chelate again. Or, rather, he left his medical assistant to carry out the final IV push alone. The treatment was obviously having some effect. She only had to call on one other doctor, this time, to restrain Tariq while she administered the fatal dose.
So, I am sorry Gradguy, if you have to find another doctor. You may have to live with your pain. But, unlike Tariq, at least you have that option.
Thank you for clarifying the details for for. I have heard many different accounts, most of them lacking in actual details. I am in no way trying to justify his actions, since I know very little about autism. I just wanted to say that Dr. Kerry is not a greedy person in my opinion. I've read postings, albeit on other news blogs, in which people have stated he was just looking for a pay day. Over the last few years i've come across doctors that fit into this category. In my experience I have found everyone at this practice very kind, and genuinely concerned about the welfare of the patients.
icronGradguy
you do not need to know anything about autism to know that Tariq was sent to Kerry for Versenate. Kerry disregarded that request and gave him a Endrate. Endrate carries a black box warning regarding infusion. Kerry disregarded the warning. Tariq showed no clinical evidence for heavy metal toxicity. Kerry disregarded that and continued to treat him unnecessarily.
The wrong drug at the wrong dose with the wrong delivery method for a non-existent problem.
He may be genuinely concerned for his patients. But he genuinely failed to show due diligence in exercising his duty of care to Tariq. In fact he showed reckless disregard for Tariq's welfare. He deserves everything that the law and the state of Pennsylvania can throw at him.
The story is of malpractice - plain and simple. At least that is how the DAN doctors are spinning it. Chelation didn't kill the boy - extreme negligence did. There is apparently some published official finding to that effect? Which is not to say - we shouldn't all be asking - what is the legitimacy of chelation in the first place? I am constantly advised to chelate my son and for the life of me - I cannot find any horror stories of chelation - administered properly- which have resulted in problems for a child. Do you know of any? Where can I go - other than rat studies and this case to find evidence that chelation is harmful? And I am not being facetious. Chelation scares me - but I don't feel prepared to argue that it is positively, likely, to be harmful - even though my gut tells me it is. When I point out the rat studies of succimer - I am told that the researcher didn't properly chelate - no physician would ever remove and not replace - some element - I can't quite recall the details of the responses I have heard from DAN associates. Or I am told - rats shouldn't chelate. Is there somewhere I can go for factual, objective information on chelation so that I can decidely show that it is not just something to try - it is truly potentially harmful - even when administered "correctly"?
Do most children with autism have higher levels of metals?
Signed - New to Town
Dear Diva,
Interesting article the effect of omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of behavior problems. Autism spectrum disorders are mentioned. Personally, I know that if my son and I don't get our vitamins and eat poorly, we get short-tempered, stressed out and depressed. It's something to consider.
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/60874/
Keep up the good work, Autism Diva
Nadine asked (re: involuntary manslaughter vs. malpractice):"There is apparently some published official finding to that effect?"
Yes, the case was submitted to the state district attorney's Medical/Legal Advisory Board on Child Abuse:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07102/777411-100.stm
And of course we don't know what evidence the state police have.
Nadine wrote: "I am constantly advised to chelate my son and for the life of me - I cannot find any horror stories of chelation - administered properly- which have resulted in problems for a child. Do you know of any? Where can I go - other than rat studies and this case to find evidence that chelation is harmful? And I am not being facetious. Chelation scares me - but I don't feel prepared to argue that it is positively, likely, to be harmful - even though my gut tells me it is. When I point out the rat studies of succimer - I am told that the researcher didn't properly chelate - no physician would ever remove and not replace - some element - I can't quite recall the details of the responses I have heard from DAN associates. Or I am told - rats shouldn't chelate. Is there somewhere I can go for factual, objective information on chelation so that I can decidely show that it is not just something to try - it is truly potentially harmful - even when administered "correctly"?
Do most children with autism have higher levels of metals?
Signed - New to Town"
If you go to papers about chelation properly administered, those would be papers written by REAL board certified toxicologists. The last time Autism Diva looked there are very few board certified doctors of any kind among the DAN! doctors, and no board certified toxicologists.
Real toxicologists don't chelate all their heavy metal poisoned patients, it's safer to let the body deal with the toxins than to throw in another chemical that will toss the minerals and metals in the body without a doubt, and could make things worse.
Real toxicologists know which chelators to use and when, and they frequently chelate with the person hospitalized so they can monitor the reaction of the patient.
Real toxicologists use real non-provoked labs to show whether or not the person needs to be chelated. They DON'T use quack, bogus, fraudulent mail order labs (which are way more expensive than local labs, too). And they don't use sham chelators.
Many of the parents talk about great gains from chelating a kid with stuff that doesn't chelate at all, like Transderman DMPS (TD DMPS) it's a trick, a faux chelator that does't chelate anything. And they don't give IV's of garlic and vinegar and call that chelation.
The main problem is that none of the kids who are chelated on the advice of bogus lab tests need to be chelated and that is probably ALL of the autistic kids in the US who have been really chelated or sham chelated. Almost all of these kid's have their urine tested by one of two or three labs and they give misleading if not outright fraudulently bad results.
The other thing is we don't know about the kinds of harm that is being done to kids with IV chelation that is short of death. They may be getting their veins ruined or they may be getting their immune systems damaged, who knows? No one has studied what might happen to kids who get chelated for no good reason in the long term.
There's no "correct" way to chelate a kid who needs no chelation and that's almost all or all autistic kids from what Autism Diva has read.
Autism Diva - Thank you for your excellent comments. They are quite helpful.
My ped has done chelation before. He is the head ped of our local hospital.
I discussed it with him - I am against it - before and after our discussion.
His comment... "when your children come down with Pink disease, we'll discuss it. They do not have mercury poisoning. And there have been enough double blind tests in this country on the safety of vaccines, they are safe. Thirdly, high doses of vitamins are dangerous to you child's long-term health." He's been practising forever.. and IMO is well read, well educated and nobody's fool.
S.
While this is not related to your most recent post on a chelation-associated death, you might find this interesting:
A follow-up to a paper that started it all kicks even more dirt on the thimerosal-causes-autism hypothesis.
Here's a bit of history: "[V]accine authorities announced that they were asking manufacturers to remove the preservative thimerosal from the hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenza type B bacteria and DTP shots. This was a precautionary step based on the fact that a fully vaccinated child could receive as much as 187 millionths of a gram of ethyl mercury–an ingredient of thimerosal--over the first six months of its life, which might put the child’s blood mercury level above the EPA’s recommended threshold. The government acted although it hadn’t received any indication that thimerosal was hurting kids. The evidence of potential harm came from a study in Denmark. There, children whose pregnant mothers had eaten large amounts of whale meat containing methyl mercury–which was similar though not identical to ethyl mercury–seemed to score lower on certain tests of mental agility at age 7, though they did better in school. It was the theoretical harm from thimerosal, and the perception of harm, that led the government to act." [http://vaccinethebook.typepad.com/mt/2006/12/how_to_think_ab.html]
It's interesting that a study of potential cognitive deficits in kids (at age 7) who had been exposed prenatally to methyl mercury (via whale meat) [Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1997 Nov-Dec;19(6):417-28] seems to have been a trigger in this controversy. I happened to read a follow up paper today [Neurotoxicol teratol. 2006:28(3):363-375.] It's very interesting that a prominent finding in that work is that while "Indicators of prenatal methylmercury exposure were significantly associated with deficits" at age 14, "postnatal methylmercury had no effect". That's postnatal, as in vaccine-related exposure to ethylmercury.
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