Over the last decade, clinics have popped up across Southern California and beyond advertising something called magnetic e-resonance therapy, or MERT, as a therapy for autism. Developed by the Newport Beach-based company Wave Neuroscience, MERT is based on transcranial magnetic stimulation, a type of brain stimulation that\u2019s approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, migraines and smoking addiction.<\/p>\n
Clinics licensing MERT have claimed that their trademarked version of the treatment can also produce \u201cmiraculous results\u201d in kids with autism, improving their sleep, emotional regulation and communication abilities. A six-week course of MERT sessions typically costs $10,000 or more. The FDA hasn\u2019t approved MERT for this use. However, prescribing drugs or devices for conditions they aren\u2019t approved for, which is known as off-label prescribing, is a legal and common practice in medicine.<\/p>\n
But when such treatments are offered to vulnerable people, a group of researchers argue in a new peer-reviewed editorial in the medical journal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, they should be evidence-based, clearly explained to patients and priced in a way that reflects the likelihood that they will work as advertised. Most clinics advertising off-label TMS as a therapy for autism don\u2019t meet those standards, the researchers say. Autism is \u201cthe biggest off-label business… [and] the one that is the greatest concern,\u201d said Dr. Andrew Leuchter, director of UCLA\u2019s TMS Clinical and Research Service.<\/p>\n
Leuchter is one of three researchers with TMS expertise who recently called for the establishment of ethical guidelines around off-label TMS marketing in the field\u2019s primary journal. Written with Lindsay Oberman, director of the Neurostimulation Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, and Dr. Holly Lisanby, founder of the NIMH Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit and dean of Arizona State University\u2019s School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering, the editorial singles out MERT as an \u201cexample of off-label TMS where there is negligible evidence of efficacy.\u201d \u201cThere is extremely limited scientific evidence at present that any form of TMS has efficacy and safety in improving the core symptoms of language, social skills, or behavioral disturbances associated with ASD,\u201d the editorial states.<\/p>\n
Websites for clinics offering MERT often feature written testimonials from parents describing what they saw as positive changes in their children\u2019s moods or spoken-language abilities after treatment sessions. Without data, however, there is no way to know whether a patient\u2019s anecdotal experience is typical or an outlier, according to Zoe Gross of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit group run by and for autistic adults. \u201cBe wary of therapies that are sold to you with testimonials. If you go to a clinic website and they have dozens of quotes from parents saying, \u2018This changed my child\u2019s life in XYZ ways,\u2019 that isn\u2019t the same as evidence,\u201d Gross told The Times last year.<\/p>\n
For families unsure of whether a particular commercial therapy might be valuable for their child, \u201cask the advice of a clinician or an autism scientist who is not connected to the facility providing a service, just to get a frank appraisal of whether it\u2019s likely to be helpful or likely to be worth the money,\u201d said James McPartland, director of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, who is currently studying the relationship between TMS and social perception in autistic adults. \u201cBefore you want to ask someone to spend resources on it, you want to have a certain degree of confidence [that] it\u2019s going to be useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
In conclusion, while MERT treatment may be advertised as a miracle cure for autism, the scientific evidence supporting its effectiveness is limited. Families should be cautious when considering this treatment and seek advice from independent clinicians or autism scientists before making a decision.<\/p>\n
Q: What is MERT treatment?
\nA: MERT stands for magnetic e-resonance therapy, a type of brain stimulation treatment developed by Wave Neuroscience.
\nQ: Is MERT approved by the FDA?
\nA: MERT is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of autism, although it is based on a type of brain stimulation that is approved for other conditions.
\nQ: How much does MERT treatment cost?
\nA: A six-week course of MERT sessions typically costs $10,000 or more.
\nQ: Is there scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of MERT?
\nA: There is limited scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of MERT in improving the core symptoms of autism.
\nQ: What should families consider when evaluating MERT treatment?
\nA: Families should seek advice from independent clinicians or autism scientists and be cautious of testimonials, as they are not a substitute for scientific evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to MERT Treatment Over the last decade, clinics have popped up across Southern California and beyond advertising something called magnetic e-resonance therapy, or MERT, as a therapy for autism. Developed by the Newport Beach-based company Wave Neuroscience, MERT is based on transcranial magnetic stimulation, a type of brain stimulation that\u2019s approved by the Food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23599","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/580b7ef\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/6122x3214+0+434\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7e%2Fd2%2Fa2051de54f73bf2aaf2d3c324409%2F1375080-me-wave-neuro-brain-treatment-jlc-1127-53305.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23599"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23602,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23599\/revisions\/23602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}