PORTERSVILLE, Pa., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A 5-year-old boy brought from England to receive a controversial treatment for autism died in a Pennsylvania doctor's office.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports Abubakar Tariq Nadama was undergoing intravenous chelation therapy, in which a synthetic amino acid is put into the body. The amino acid fastens to lead and other heavy metals, which are then eliminated from the body.
Chelation is normally used as a treatment for lead poisoning. Its use as an autism therapy stems from the belief that the condition is caused by heavy metals.
The boy went into cardiac arrest in the office of Dr. Roy Kerry in Portersville. State police are investigating the circumstances.
Marwa Nadama, the boy's mother, said she did not want to blame chelation for her son's death until she had seen the autopsy report.
Dr. Gary Swanson, a child psychologist at Allegheny General Hospital, told the newspaper chelation is "probably a quack therapy." He said it has not been put through trials as an autism treatment.
