Outpatient prescriptions for the drug increased 71% after the announcement, but the FDA later approved it only for folate deficiency
When Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr stood up at the press conference in September to tout leucovorin, a vitamin B derivative, as a treatment for autism, some neurodevelopmental doctors were shocked – and they braced themselves. There was little evidence to suggest the folinic acid helps with autism, yet there was an immediate flood of parents calling and scheduling visits to talk about the medication.
“The average parent who maybe wasn’t getting the right information said, ‘Well, to be good parents, we need to try this,’” said William Graf, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Outpatient leucovorin prescriptions for children ages five to 17 in the US rose by 71% in the weeks following the announcement, new research shows.
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