Conference pushes untested autism drug

CHICAGO, May 22 (UPI) -- A conference on autism under way in Chicago features treatments not recognized by most doctors, including a drug sometimes used for chemical castration.

The use of Lupron is based on the theory that autistic children have too much of the male hormone testosterone, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday. Dr. Mark Geier, who developed the use of Lupron with his son, calls it a "miracle drug."

But most autism experts say Lupron has not been tested as an autism treatment and there is no proof autism is linked to testosterone.

"The idea of using it with vulnerable children with autism, who do not have a life-threatening disease and pose no danger to anyone, without a careful trial to determine the unwanted side effects or indeed any benefits, fills me with horror," Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge University in England, told the Tribune.

The five-day Autism One conference began Wednesday. The keynote speaker Saturday is Jennie McCarthy, who has gained a popular following for her contention, also disputed, that vaccination causes autism.