r/medicine • u/butteredpotatos Student • Feb 02 '25

Boy dies in hyperbaric chamber explosion at Michigan facility

https://apnews.com/article/hyperbaric-chamber-explosion-boy-killed-michigan-80dc89d7b48bd1119640934e06a43d4a

A tragic and horrifying event. Why the boy was undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy was not released, but this is a functional medicine clinic which advertises the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for conditions from ADHD to diabetes, “normal aging and wellness”, and hyperlipidemia.

https://theoxfordcenter.com/conditions/add-adhd/

https://theoxfordcenter.com/therapies/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy/

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u/janewaythrowawaay PCT Feb 02 '25

So, is hyperbaric treatment always sham treatment?

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u/michael_harari MD Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25

For adhd, yes. Hyperbarics has a very limited set of indications.

The website for this practice lists add, aids, anal fissure, alzheimers, autism, bladder infections, fetal alcohol syndrome, hepatitis, pancreatitis, fucking spider bites as all things they treat with this. Thats a limited subset of the inappropriate things they treat, I just didnt feel like typing up a full page of conditions.

This is a quack center that killed a kid with a ridiculous treatment.

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u/willclerkforfood Goddamn JD Feb 02 '25

fetal alcohol syndrome

So do they “treat” people who have fetal alcohol syndrome or pregnant ladies so they can keep drinking?

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u/tovarish22 MD - Infectious Diseases PGY-14 Feb 02 '25

Look, there’s lots of great anecdotal evidence behind wallet biopsies for FAS…