The Study
Months after high-profile endorsements from Trump administration officials, a prominent study investigating the efficacy of leucovorin, a prescription form of folinic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms has been formally retracted. The European Journal of Pediatrics announced the withdrawal of the research, which had been originally published in September 2024, citing significant inconsistencies within the reported data.
The drug, leucovorin, gained considerable attention following a government press conference in September, where officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlighted the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) intent to approve the decades-old medication for cerebral folate deficiency—a neurological condition often associated with features of autism. At the time, HHS officials proclaimed this action would establish the “first FDA-recognized therapeutic for children with cerebral folate deficiency and autistic symptoms,” suggesting it would authorize treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) if they demonstrated language, social, or adaptive gains.
The retracted study specifically examined 77 children diagnosed with autism. Its original findings claimed that participants who received folinic acid for a period of 24 weeks experienced improvements in their autism symptoms. However, even at the time of the initial government announcement, autism experts cautioned that only a handful of small-scale studies had explored leucovorin as an autism treatment, emphasizing the critical need for larger, more robust trials to definitively ascertain its effectiveness.
Source: disabilityscoop.com
