A Naperville physician featured in a 2009 Tribune investigation into alternative treatments for autism has been charged by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation with "unprofessional, unethical and/or dishonorable conduct."
The complaint against Dr. Anjum Usman alleges that she made false or misleading statements regarding the value of treatments, "demonstrated extreme departure from rational medical judgment" and "abused the patient/physician relationship." It asks that her medical license be revoked, suspended, placed on probation or otherwise disciplined.
The complaint, filed Wednesday, revolves around Usman's care of a boy diagnosed with autism whose treatment was described in the Tribune's series "Dubious Medicine." The series detailed the many unproven therapies prescribed for the boy and found that many alternative treatments for autism amount to uncontrolled experimentation on children.
According to the complaint, the boy began seeing Usman shortly after he was diagnosed with mild to moderate autism in the spring of 2004. He was not yet 2.
Usman allegedly diagnosed the child with a calcium-to-zinc imbalance, yeast, dysbiosis, low zinc, heavy metal toxicity and abnormally high levels of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, silver, tin, titanium and selenium.
Treatments listed in the complaint include dietary restrictions; nearly three dozen vitamin, enzyme, mineral and other dietary supplements; two antifungal drugs; four chelators or detoxifying drugs; a hormone suppressor, and hyperbaric oxygen treatments, in which the child is shut inside a pressurized bag filled with extra oxygen.
"None of the treatments described above has been proven to influence the course of autism," the complaint states. And yet Usman "made statements to (the boy's) mother that the prescribed treatments had positive clinical benefits for children with autism, despite the lack of empirical research."
At one point, the complaint alleges, Usman prescribed selenium supplements even though the boy's levels were normal. She "continued to do so even when (the boy) eventually showed a high level," according to the complaint.
In 2010, the boy's father, James Coman, sued Usman and Dr. Daniel Rossignol of Melbourne, Fla., alleging that they harmed his son with "dangerous and unnecessary experimental treatments." A Chicago-area lab, Doctor's Data, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. That case, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, is ongoing.
Both Usman and Rossignol were prominent in the Defeat Autism Now! movement, which has promoted many of the risky and unproven therapies scrutinized by the Tribune in 2009. Both have spoken to parents and physicians at autism conferences, including a large one held in the Chicago area each year called Autism One.
Coman's attorney, David Wilzig, confirmed that Coman filed the complaint that launched the IDFPR investigation into Usman, and that the anonymous child referred to in the complaint is Coman's son.
Neither Usman nor her attorney immediately responded to requests for comment.
Usman, medical director of the True Health Medical Center, is scheduled to appear before an administrative law judge for the Illinois State Medical Disciplinary Board on Nov. 28, at which point a hearing date will be determined.
Comment: This newest article from the
Tribune conveniently doesn't mention that Mr. Coman, the original petitioner, is
engaged in a bitter divorce and custody battle with his son's mother.
The mother is the proponent of biomedical treatment for autism, which are usually expensive and paid out of pocket. The father's objection to the treatment began at time of divorce. There is no allegation of actual harm done to the child at any point during treatment.
This personal vendetta is being used by the PTB to jump-start another installment of witch hunt against doctors and scientists who challenge the medical establishment.
Not that I should be surprised!
But this story was pretty well masked.
Another example of the "mental health" system pushing its weight around in the name of "warning" the public about "unproven" treatments. And their own treatments are some of the most unproven!
Yes, I did note that no mention was made of whether or not the kid was getting better.
I've seen disgruntled family members used this way before. It can get very treacherous. I have seen it used very effectively to terrorize a psychologist who was treating ritual abuse cases, resulting in his dropping out of that field. And he was doing good work, too - at least from a forensic point of view.
I have also seen the tactic used against my church and other "cults." Again, it helps if you are offering an alternative to the official "mental health" system. It's even worse if your alternative is effective!