Johnson Center for Child Health and Development

The Johnson Center for Child Health and Development — formerly Thoughtful House Center for Children, or simply Thoughtful House[1] — is an Austin, Texas-based organization promoting anti-vaccination conspiracy theories and medically unsupported cures for autism.[2] It was founded in 2005 by a group including discredited researcher Andrew Wakefield.[3] It has offered dangerous alternative treatments including chelation therapy[3] and gluten-free/casein-free diets.[4] After the departure of Wakefield, the Center’s founding executive director who previously headed its research,[3] it continues under the direction of Laura Hewitson.[5]

The Center was named for benefactor Betty Wold Johnson.[6]

History

The Johnson Center's predecessor organization, Thoughtful House, was established in 2004, by a group including Troy and Charlie Ball, Kelly Barnhill, Bryan Jepson, Jane Johnson, Andrew Wakefield,[7] and others. Charlie Ball, former Dell executive, and his wife, Troy, donated money to the group as a tribute to their autistic son.[8] Wakefield resigned from the Thoughtful House in February 2010[3] after his now-retracted[9][10] research[11] on the MMR vaccine was ruled dishonest by the UK General Medical Council[12] and an "elaborate fraud" by the BMJ.[13]

Controversies

Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced former doctor who helped found the Thoughtful House in 2005, resigned from the organization in February 2010[3][14] after The Lancet retracted[9][10] fraudulent[15] research[11] that Wakefield had published prior to helping found the Thoughtful House, which used doctored data to claim a link between autism the MMR vaccine, and he was sanctioned by the UK General Medical Council.[12]

Bryan Jepson, another founding collaborator, was fined $1,000 in 2005 for allowing information to appear on a website that suggested he was entitled to practice medicine in Texas before he received a Texas Medical License.[16] In his book, Changing the Course of Autism, Jepson advocates for chelation therapy, a dangerous non-evidence-based treatment for autism based on a discredited hypothesis that mercury poisoning leads to autism.[17]

One of Thoughtful House’s former collaborating physicians, Arthur Krigsman, was fined $5,000 in 2005 by the Texas Medical board for failing to report a Florida Medical Board action that cited him for failure to document continuing medical education hours.[18]

According to the memoir of Jennifer Noonan, a blogger who advocates non-evidence-based dietary treatment of autism and who is the mother of a former Johnson Center patient, the Center also believes the discredited hypothesis that autism is caused by gluten and casein.[4]

References
  1. "Autism center changes name, location, leaders". Central Texas Digest. statesman.com. May 6, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-05-09. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  2. Alex Hannaford (30 January 2013). "Autism Inc.: The Discredited Science, Shady Treatments and Rising Profits Behind Alternative Autism Treatments". The Texas Observer.
  3. Roser, Mary Ann (September 1, 2012). "British doctor resigns as head of Austin autism center". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on 2010-03-12.
  4. Noonan, Jennifer (2016). No Map to This Country. Da Capo Lifelong. ISBN 978-0-7382-1904-2.
  5. "The Johnson Center for Child Health & Development : Research". www.johnson-center.org.
  6. Crouse, Karen (2007-08-24). "Tractor Therapy Keeps Jets' Matriarch in Harmony". The New York Times.
  7. Harlow, John (2008-09-28). "MMR row doctor Andrew Wakefield spreads fear to US". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  8. "Marshall Ball". www.marshallball.com.
  9. Harris, Gardiner (2010-02-02). "Journal Retracts 1998 Paper Linking Autism to Vaccines". New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  10. "Medical journal retracts study linking autism to vaccine". CNN. 2010-02-02. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  11. Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al. (28 February 1998). "Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children". Lancet. 351 (9103): 637–41. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(97)11096-0. PMID 9500320. (Retracted)
  12. Deer, Brian. "General Medical Council, Fitness to Practise Panel Hearing, 28 January 2010, Andrew Wakefield, John Walker-Smith & Simon Murch" (PDF). briandeer.com. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  13. Godlee F, Smith J, Marcovitch H (2011). "Wakefield's article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent". BMJ. 342: c7452. doi:10.1136/bmj.c7452. PMID 21209060.
  14. Kristina C. (February 18, 2010). "Andrew Wakefield Resigns From Thoughtful House: Is Vaccinegate Finally Over?". Care2 Causes.
  15. "British Medical Journal: Dr. Andrew Wakefield's Research Linking Autism to Vaccines was a Fraud". fatherhoodchannel.com. 6 January 2011.
  16. Stephen Barrett, M.D. (November 29, 2009). "Regulatory Action against Bryan Jepson, M.D." www.casewatch.net.
  17. Bryan Jepson; Jane Johnson (2007). Changing the Course of Autism: A Scientific Approach for Parents and Physicians. Sentient Publications. p. 231. ISBN 978-1-59181-061-2.
  18. Stephen Barrett, M.D. (February 16, 2009). "Court Rules against Arthur Krigsman, M.D." www.casewatch.net.
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