More junk science targeting parents of autistic children. It's based on nothing sound. This "doctor," Geier, is using a drug called Lupron - used to treat prostate cancer in men, endometriosis in women, and to chemically castrate sex offenders, among other things - to supposedly "treat" children with an autism spectrum disorder. This "treatment" is being justified with a baseless theory linking autism and high testosterone levels. Even better, Geier's recommended daily dose is 10 times higher than the dose used for chemical castration. And he's doing this to pre-puberty children, and opening as many "clinics" as he can.
In case you're tempted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and allow that maybe his intentions are good, even if his science is bad (not that intent matters if the impact is shitty), check this out:
Looking at the tests, Kaplowitz said he asks himself: "Is Dr. Geier just misinformed and he hasn't studied endocrinology, or is he trying to mislead?"Emphasis mine.
Mark Geier responded that these are "opinions by people who don't know what they are talking about," saying the pediatric endocrinologists interviewed by the Tribune don't treat autistic children and have not tried the Lupron treatment. David Geier said prominent scientists support their work and gave as an example Baron-Cohen, the autism expert who told the Tribune that the Geiers' Lupron treatment filled him with horror.
Science works. That's why we have vaccines and cars and stuff. Trying to skip science - using treatments that haven't showed any promise in repeatable experiments by multiple laboratories with published results that have been reviewed and checked and double-checked by peer groups - is no better a solution than walking out into your backyard, picking up the first bug you see, and calling it a miracle cure for cancer. It's BULLSHIT.
UPDATE: Dr. David Gorski at Science-Based Medicine has a thorough takedown of the quackery being promoted by the Geiers.
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