Michael Fitzpatrick (physician)
Michael Fitzpatrick (born 1950) is a general practitioner from London, medical author known for writing several books and newspaper articles about controversies in autism, and the father of an autistic son, James. His book Defeating Autism: A Dangerous Delusion describes his perspectivess of the rising popularity of "biomedical" treatments for autism, as well as the MMR vaccine controversy, as both a GP and an autism parent.[1]
His books have focused on topics such as the MMR vaccine controversy and the use of pseudoscientific treatments for autism, such as Mark Geier's use of chelation therapy and Lupron as autism treatments, which he has criticized as "dehumanising and dangerous."[2] He has also condemned the use of secretin as an autism treatment in his 2004 book MMR and Autism: What Parents Need to Know, in which he writes that "the secretin bubble burst" when a randomized controlled trial found that it was ineffective. He has also proposed that special diets are such a popular autism treatment because so little is known about the cause of, or possible treatments for, autism: "And then someone else comes along and says your doctor's useless, that they know what caused it, and that you can do something about it," he continued in an interview with the Guardian.[3]
Books
- The Tyranny of Health (2001). Routledge.
- MMR and Autism: What Parents Need to Know (2004). Routledge.
- Defeating Autism: A Dangerous Delusion (2009). Routledge.
References