Over the past decade, clinics have sprung up across Southern California and beyond, touting so-called electron magnetic resonance therapy, or MERET, as a treatment for autism.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the treatment, developed by Wave Neuroscience, relies on transcranial magnetic stimulation, a type of brain stimulation that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, migraines, and smoking addiction.
The clinics that licensed Mert’s treatment claimed that this commercially registered version of the treatment could achieve “amazing results” in children with autism, as it improves the quality of their sleep and regulates their emotions and communication abilities. Six-week Merit therapy sessions cost $10,000 or more.
The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of Myrt for this purpose. However, prescribing medications or using devices for conditions that are not approved for treatment with these devices, known as off-label prescriptions, is legal and common in medicine.
When such treatments are offered to high-risk populations, they should be evidence-based, clearly explained to patients, and priced to reflect that they will achieve the advertised results, a group of researchers say in a new peer-reviewed editorial in the journal TMS.
Most clinics promoting unapproved transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for autism fall short of standards, researchers say.
“Autism treatment is the biggest under-the-radar business…and the biggest concern,” said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, director of transcranial magnetic stimulation clinical trials and research at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Leuchter is among three researchers with expertise in transcranial magnetic stimulation, and he recently called for ethics rules in the marketing of unapproved transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy in the leading journal in the field.
The researchers’ editorial noted that MERT is “an example of an unapproved transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for which limited evidence of effectiveness has been observed.”
“There is currently very limited scientific evidence that any form of rTMS treatment is effective and safe for improving key symptoms related to language, social skills, or behavioral disturbance associated with the autism spectrum,” the article added.
The article explained, “Websites and advertising materials that fail to acknowledge that this rule, which is based on limited evidence, can lead to the risk of bias and the possibility of making false predictions.”
Dr. Eric Won, president of Wave Neuroscience, did not respond to requests for comment.
There are no extensive scientific studies
A Times investigation last year concluded that there were no extensive scientific studies proving that MERT was significantly better than a placebo for improving speech and communication challenges associated with autism. The newspaper said that the company had not conducted any clinical trials on treating Mert and autism. Won said last year that the company was working to obtain funding to conduct further studies and eventually obtain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
The websites of clinics that offer Mert therapy display written testimonials from parents describing how they noticed positive changes in their children’s mood or speaking abilities after therapy sessions.
However, without data, there is no way to know whether a patient’s anecdotal experience is typical or outlier, said Zoe Gross of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, a nonprofit group run by adults with autism.
with autism and in order to provide services to them.
“Beware of treatments that are sold with testimonials,” Gross told the Times last year. “If you look at a clinic’s website, and it has dozens of parent statements that say, ‘I changed my son’s life in multiple ways,’ that’s not evidence.”
Gross pointed out that the treatment may have a success rate of 1%, yet it receives dozens of positive testimonials once thousands of people try it.
Families who are unsure about the effectiveness of a particular commercial treatment for their child should seek advice from a doctor or autism expert, not associated with the facility providing the service, to get a candid assessment of how effective it is and whether it is worth the cost, said James McPartland, director of the Yale Center for Brain Health, who is currently studying the relationship between transcranial magnetic stimulation and social cognition in adults with autism.