Amazon withdraws books that offer dangerous cures for autism

E-commerce giant Amazon, has quietly taken back the book that promised cures for autism with the help of potentially dangerous therapies. The books have been taken back last week and the decision came after an expose in Wired magazine in recent times that had mentioned how Amazon was selling dozens of titles that claimed to be able to cure the lifelong condition with nostrums from camel milk to yoga and veganism.

On March 14, 2019 the book Healing the Symptoms Known As Autism by Kerry Rivera and had advocated dosing autistic children with a bleach-like substance, Chlorine dioxide, was no longer available from Amazon. The Autism Research Institute explained that Chlorine dioxide which is known as the miracle mineral solution by its disciples has side effects that are known to be seriously damaging. Another book that was named in the Wired article, Fight Autism and Win has also been taken down by Amazon. The book had promoted the process known as chelation that had involved using dose of chemicals to remove heavy metals from the body.

It is not an approved treatment for autism and can be dangerous. In 2005, a five year old boy died after undergoing the chelation treatment. Even the Miracle Mineral Supplement of the 21st century by Jim Humble is no longer available for sale on Amazon. Larry Cook an anti-vaccination campaigner, the founder of Stop Mandatory Vaccination had highlighted the removal of books in a Facebook post and appealed its followers to stock up on books and DVDs.

On the other hand Amazon has been contacted for a comment. The e-commerce giant confirmed that it had withdrawn books but would not comment on whether it was a part of a larger effort to clean up the site. Meanwhile media giants have been facing a lot of criticism over their role in amplifying the anti-vaccine movement with Facebook last week.

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