Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr. on 3/2/2006, 10:30am EST:

If you are looking for the story about Scott Shoemaker and his son, it has been temporarily removed. The Shoemakers will appear on NBC local news across the country tonight Friday night, unless there is breaking news that bumps the story. Mr. Shoemaker has released the following statement to us:

On Monday, February 27, it was brought to my attention by many people that a bogus email was circulated around the internet and posted on list servers everywhere claiming that a clinic and its practices have cured my son. This simply is not true. My son has come a long way in an extremely short time using chelation therapy and I have documentation and video evidence to back this up. He has rapidly caught up and surpassed his peers in some areas in an extremely short time, and although some people may debate this, we feel that he still has a little way to go. My wife and I have consulted several doctors and parents in his recovery, and we play the biggest part in choosing his protocol.

The email also mentioned two other sites that were connected to the clinic’s owner that generate revenue for her. The email was unprofessional, grossly inaccurate, contained many mistakes, and included a falsified statement that was purportedly made by my wife about the clinic. My son was never cured by allergy therapies at this clinic, and sadly, I feel that the email was an attempt to draw attention to the clinic itself and other business entities of the owner and take advantage of a news story airing tonight [Friday, March 3] on NBC local news about my family. We were never contacted prior to the release of the information in this email. We have never met the owner of this clinic and she has never met my son. If you or anyone you know has received an email about a story that was to air on ABC that promoted this clinic, please help me to clarify this by redirecting those people to this page.

Because we feel our rights and privacy have been violated, I have decided to ask the Sullivans to temporarily remove my son’s story until further notice. It will be reposted at a later time. My wife and I have been and always will be committed to sharing our experiences with the autism community at our discretion as we always have in the past, but we refuse to allow people to take advantage of our son’s situation and profit from it as was it seemed was the case with this bogus email. Furthermore, the information that we do share is done voluntarily in the sole purpose of helping other children with developmental problems, and we have never taken a dime from anyone that wanted to use our son’s story to benefit other children.

My wife and I want to thank the Sullivans for posting this clarification, their ongoing commitment to raising awareness of mercury poisoning, and their service to the autism community. We appreciate everyone respecting our privacy in this matter. Sorry for the temporary inconvenience. Feel free to contact me here if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Scott Shoemaker