Updated at 1700Hrs on 17 April 2024
An urgent alert has been issued to schools across Nottinghamshire about a bogus doctor claiming to offer treatment for autism. The warning to schools in the County is being shared by safeguarding bodies across the country as an investigation by the Metropolitan Police begins into an “unlicensed procedure” being promoted in the Newham area of east London.
The London Borough of Newham was the first to issue an alert about “a new doctor coming from overseas … offering to cure children of their autism.”
The council’s family services team says that “there is no known cure to autism currently and this dangerous claim could pose very serious problems for vulnerable children while also creating financial problems for parents/carers”.
The Nottinghamshire warning, seen by LBC, says that the advertised procedure involves “the possible extraction and transfer of bone marrow/spinal fluid to a child’s brain matter by injection.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that it is working with Newham Council and NHS bodies to investigate “the circumstances of a reported fraud relating to the provision of medical services.”