The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 22, 2007

Dr. Kerry charged in death

Physician accused of manslaughter

SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP — A South Pymatuning Township doctor was charged with involuntary manslaughter Wednesday for administering a chemical treatment that state police said killed a 5-year-old autistic boy.

Police charged Dr. Roy E. Kerry in the death of Abubakar Tariq Nadama, who went into cardiac arrest at Kerry’s office immediately after receiving chelation therapy on Aug. 23, 2005.

Chelation removes heavy metals from the body and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating acute heavy metal poisoning, but not for treating autism. Some people believe autism is caused by heavy metal poisoning.

The boy’s parents had previously filed a wrongful death suit against Kerry. The state also is trying to revoke his medical license.

Kerry’s Advanced Integrative Medicine has offices in Hempfield Township and Portersville. The receptionist at the Greenville-area office said Kerry was treating patients and was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

Butler County District Attorney Randacq Clark said state police asked Kerry to turn himself in by thisthursday afternoon or risk arrest. Police also charged Kerry with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.

Kerry could face jail time if he is convicted of all counts. Because he has no prior convictions, however, he is unlikely to face the maximum sentence of decades in prison, Clark said.

She said the investigation, which took nearly two years to complete, was complex. Investigators talked to several doctors about Kerry’s methods and one is prepared to testify that his treatment of Nadama constituted gross negligence, she said.

The boy’s parents, Mawra and Rufai Nadama, had moved from Plymouth, England, to the Pittsburgh area to seek treatment for the boy’s autism.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the boy was given a synthetic amino acid to rid his body of heavy metals, instead of a similar chemical with a calcium additive. Both are odorless, colorless liquids and may have been confused, the CDC found.

The additive is used to replenish calcium, the loss of which can cause sudden cardiac arrest.

The family’s attorney in the wrongful death suit, John Gismondi, said criminal charges are rarely filed in disputes over medical treatment.

“Most medical situations don’t involve criminal charges,” Gismondi said. “They may involve civil litigation, but I think criminal charges are warranted and I think the state of Pennsylvania obviously agrees because they’re looking to revoke his medical license.”

The Department of State, which licenses physicians, filed six disciplinary charges in September against Kerry.

It contends Kerry used the wrong formula of the drug and prescribed an IV push – meaning the drugs are administered in one dose intravenously – despite warnings that it could be lethal.

Kerry, 69, has not commented publicly on the various allegations he faces, but has defended his treatment of the boy in documents contesting the Department of State’s charges.

He has argued that the boy’s autism symptoms improved after the first two treatments earlier in the summer of 2005. Kerry acknowledged that there may have been a “miscommunication” about which medication to give the boy during the third treatment, but says that did not amount to repeated or gross negligence.

A Department of State spokeswoman said the criminal charges do not change plans to hold a disciplinary hearing this fall that could result in Kerry’s license being suspended or revoked.

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