Jeff Bradstreet

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Jeff Bradstreet, MD, is an American physician whose medical foundation in Melbourne, Florida, The Good News Doctor Foundation focuses upon complementary medicine, clinical research, and treatment of autistic spectrum disorders. Dr. Bradstreet is a Harvard-certified medical education instructor in autism.[citation needed] Bradstreet attributes his son Matthew's autism to vaccination at 15 months of age. Bradstreet has been a vocal opponent of government vaccine campaigns, highlighed by his testimony critical of vaccine policies, on April 25, 2001, before the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform.

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[edit] Background

Dr. Bradstreet has evaluated over 2000 children with neurological disorders, and he directs a school for such children where his responsibilities include supervising occupational therapists, speech, language pathologists, and applied behavioral analysts.

Dr. Bradstreet received his medical degree at the University of South Florida. He underwent residency training in OB/GYN at Wilford Hall United States Air Force Medical Center. While in the Air Force, he was trained in toxicology and environmental health. His duties as an officer included responsibility for military personnel who had exposure to a wide variety of toxins, including mercury.

Bradstreet proclaims himself a 'Christian family physician'. According to his website, "A simple, but profound verse kept drawing him into greater understanding of the real meaning of health. The verse is Matthew 6:33: 'But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well'."

[edit] Alternative medicine practitioner

Bradstreet's unproven alternative medical treatments for autism include therapeutic use of enzymes including secretin and taurine.[1] In a recent episode, federal US marshals have seized such supplements in at least one raid, a practice criticized by alternative medicine advocates as politically motivated. [2] [3] Secretin [4], for which Bernard Rimland owns a patent, and enzyme mixtures of his own devising.[5] None of these have been accepted by mainstream medical authorities as efficacious, though dietary deficits of such essential nutrients are well known to induce or exacerbate disease. Secretin has not been shown to have positive effects on autistic children compared to placebo.

[edit] Controversial research

Bradstreet has written three peer reviewed papers regarding the relationship between thimerosal containing vaccines (TCVs), developmental disorders and biological markers for mercury-susceptibility.

Bradstreet has collaborated with a number of prominent vaccine and autism researchers, including Dr. Andrew Wakefield in conducting research which conflicts with accepted medical establishment theories about the safety of vaccines. In 2004, the doctors published research which they say evidences measles virus in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of three autistic children, who had received the MMR vaccine but not had wild measles; measles was not found in the CSF of control subjects. The implications, if their research is duplicated, are that the 'weakened' live measles from the MMR is alive and replicating in secondary sites (see Bradstreet, J et al, ‘Detection of Measles Virus Genomic RNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Children with Regressive Autism: a Report of Three Cases’, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Vol 9 No 2, 2004).[6]

[edit] Call for research on unvaccinated homeschool children

In light of what he believes to be the possible association between vaccinations and his son's autism, Bradstreet's daughter has been homeschooled. In the United States, some 2 million children are homeschooled, a decision attributed by many parents in part to their religious beliefs. Another reason often given by parents for homeschooling is their wish to avoid having their children vaccinated, but the number of those unvaccinated is unclear.

In an interview with investigative journalist Dan Olmsted, who has reported on two other unvaccinated populations, the Amish and Homefirst Health Services, Bradstreet voiced his opinion that the homeschool population needs to be studied by scientists. "I said I know I can tap into this community and find you large numbers of unvaccinated homeschooled," said Bradstreet, "and we can do simple prevalence and incidence studies in them, and my gut reaction is that you're going to see no autism in this group."

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • GND.org - 'Good News Doctor Foundation'
  • GND.org - 'Overview of Autism/PDD: The Clinical Evaluation and Research Treatment Options', Jeff Bradstreet, MD, Good News Doctor Inc.
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