Dr. Mark Geier's License to Practice Suspended

[lisaquestions]

I don't know if anyone here was following this story, but Kathleen Seidel of neurodiversity.com was investigating his practice. For those who don't know, he was injecting autistic boys and at least a few men with Lupron, a drug used to chemically castrate sex offenders*. He diagnosed the boys with "precocious puberty" to justify the medication

Comments

[year_anda_day]

I was given lurpon injections one a month for a period of six months to shrink fibroid tumor in my uterus. It didn't affect my asperger's one way or the other that I noticed.

Thank goodness they suspended his license he sounds like a quack.

[basepair]

I cried when I first read about this. I hope justice is served and that quacks will stop trying to "cure" us.

His "theory" also results in the underdiagnosis of female-bodied people with ASDs - we "can't" have ASDs because women are allegedly inherently so much better at communicating, despite evidence to the contrary in many cases.

[lisaquestions]

Yeah, that wasn't mentioned in the article at all.

It's amazing how easy it is to find and point to evidence that autism is much closer to evenly split and yet people just blow it off or ignore it. I believe Tony Attwood said that diagnosis of adults is split evenly. Rdos - the author of the Aspie Quiz - posted earlier tonight on Wrong Planet that the people who score in the "you are possibly an Aspie" range are also evenly split. There's also a study that indicates that when it comes to more severe autism, the ration is more like 1.5:1 and women are more likely to present with a range of other neurological problems. Which probably means that women who don't have those difficulties are possibly being missed and misdiagnosed.

[brockulfsen]

Attwood used to believe Girls couldn't be on the Autism Spectrum, I'm trying to find the date he changed sides. I suspect mid/late-90s. His revelation meant twice as many people would buy hs books, I mean be able to be helped.

[lisaquestions]

Hahaha, fair point. I didn't know that, but I'm not surprised.

It is good he changed his mind, though. And I did find his Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome very helpful recently.

[hannahsarah]

The book "Aspergirls" makes it very clear that women often present very differently with Asperger's, but it doesn't make them any more or less on the spectrum. That's why it's called a spectrum! (grrrr, typos. I'm so mad I can hardly type!)

Lupron may make boys more "docile and easy to handle" like a girl, but it doesn't cure anything, and can cause all kinds of horrible emotional responses in both men and women. I would NEVER consider giving a drug like this to a young boy!

My doctor gave me a Lupron injection when I was trying to get pregnant (to trigger ovulation) and it made me suicidal - literally. My husband had to stay home from work to keep me away from the kitchen knives. I ended up needing to take massive hormone supplements for the next month to keep me from going crazy.

[lisaquestions]

Based on a lot of data that somehow never makes it into peer-reviewed research but seems to be legitimate, I think that it's close to even. There was also a news story recently (linked here?) about how girls with ADHD and autism were not treated seriously by medical professionals.

[hannahsarah]

I wish I had a dollar for every person who's said about my daughter "She can't be autistic, she speaks to well! She's so smart!" etc.

It makes me stabby.

[brockulfsen]

Ditto for my Daughter, diagnosed by the Great Tony Attwood himself, and for me who had the same behaviours that got her tagged when I was the same age.

[hannahsarah]

OH HOLY CRAP!

I was doing research on support groups in my area, and I came across this:

RESEARCH-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR CHILD AND YOUR FAMILY

A new medical clinic for those affected by autism, ADHD, and other neurobehavioral/developmental issues as well as co-occurring problems like precocious puberty, genetic syndromes, mitochondrial dysfunction, heavy metal overloads, gastrointestinal issues is opening in Redmond. Accepts most major insurances. Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD, FACMG, FACE, ABMG. Contact Lisa Reents, RN, MSN, for more information or an appointment at (425) 890-8979, 16307 NE 83rd St, Suite 201-A, Redmond. ASD Centers and Genetic Consultants of America, visit www.autismtreatmentclinics.com

http://seattleaspergers.org/diagnosisandtherapy.aspx Of course, it's an Austism Speaks sponsored site. }:-(

Can I scream now?

[lisaquestions]

Oh, great.

Did this go up recently?

[hannahsarah]

I didn't see a date on the posting, but according to one article I read he's licensed to practice in 10 states, so it wouldn't be too hard for him to just keep moving around.

Ugh. I feel sick.

[sra33]

Hah! That's pretty bad... I have noticed I have a lot more T than most girls, but I never once figured it was causing autism.. maybe autistically related perhaps...

That's pretty funny... In a really sick and wrong sort of way.. :\