THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 47 FEBRUA RY 26, 2020
A
like Spine and the Journal of
Psychosomatic Research — blames
conflict-of-interest policies for
his inability to gain scientific
traction for the BAUD. “I can’t get
it through a review committee,”
he says. “They say, ‘I’m sorry, you
have a self-interest in this. That’s
a problem.’ ”
Dr. Stephen Barrett, a psychia-
trist and peer-review panelist for
several top medical journals, has
been skeptical of the BAUD for
years, listing it as a questionable
medical instrument on his anti-
fraud watchdog website, Device
Watch. “Conflict of interest isn’t
a legitimate reason not to be
published,” he says. “If the study
is appropriate, journals simply
disclose the conflict. The more
likely reason he hasn’t been pub-
lished is that his research hasn’t
been adequate.”
Lawlis contends the BAUD is
useful for addressing not just
PTSD but drug addiction, ADHD,
depression, anxiety, phobia
and pain. Barrett believes this
transgresses the FDA’s allowance,
observing in particular that use
for depression could be danger-
ous. “If the device is not effective,
and you represent that it treats
depression, you may be dealing
with people who have the poten-
tial for suicide,” he says.
Lawlis and Peavey have other
views that counter prevailing
accepted science. They ques-
tion childhood immunization
scheduling standards that have
been established by the federal
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. “My theory is that
if the child is still dealing with
the mother’s immune system,”
ventures Lawlis, “maybe in some
instances the vaccines confuse
the whole immune system. But if
you wait a little longer, where you
have more of a balanced person
that can incorporate it, that
might be the solution.” The pair
also express unease about what
they perceive as the pernicious
effects of mercury in vaccines,
principally the MMR inoculation
(scientific consensus has deter-
mined it’s safe), believing such
shots may be responsible for some
of the problems their clients face.
Lawlis’ belief that mercury may,
as he put it in his 2010 book, The
Autism Answer, induce “a cascade
“Putting aside that the idea that
vaccines cause autism has been
widely discredited, this treatment
approach is both unreliable and
may even have negative effects,”
she says, noting that chelation
also can have the deleterious con-
sequence of extracting nutrients,
from electrolytes to potassium.
“There is no medical basis for it.”
While Peavey speaks of chela-
tion as an active component of the
Texas practice, Lawlis claims “we
have not used it for the last three
or four years at all.”
Lawlis ventures other argu-
able contentions as well.
In 2008’s Retraining the Brainto do with some people I know
in Washington that have been
studying these waveforms, espe-
cially that come from cellphones
and other sources.”AT A TEX-MEX RESTAURANT NORTH
of Dallas, Lawlis sweepingly
dismisses the legitimacy of
double-blind studies, the placebo-
controlled, randomized trials
that are a cornerstone of medical
research. He argues that humans
are too complex to provide a
true control group. Regardless,
“I read through the journals and
they’re not making any headway,”
anyway. “If you read the [studies’]Lawlis and his son, an electrical engineer, designed the Bio-Acoustical Utilization
Device, or BAUD. It emits calibrated sounds to influence brain function, which he claims
is a panacea for many mental ailments. “A person comes in with PTSD and you give him
the BAUD and after 30 minutes it goes away,” he says.of poor auto-immune reactions
which produce autistic behav-
iors,” has led him to advocate
for an unproven application of
chelation therapy, a detoxification
process in which heavy metals
and minerals are removed from
the body. The FDA has approved
chelation therapy for heavy metal
toxicity, such as lead poisoning,
but warns against unapproved
use for autism disorders.
Dr. Kelly Johnson-Arbor, a toxi-
cology expert and co-head of the
National Capital Poison Center
in Washington, D.C., is alarmed.(which McGraw blurbed, tout-
ing “groundbreaking techniques
that can dramatically improve
our lives”), he connects exposure
to TV and video games after the
age of 7 to ADD diagnosis. “The
dust that comes from the heat
shields and sound-proofing in the
back of color television sets has
been shown to have very negative
effects on hormone levels and
disruption of cognitive abilities,”
he writes. When asked about the
evidence, he responds: “Well, let
me just say this. I’m not at liberty
to reveal the sources. But it hastitles, it’s amazing how stupid
the findings are: ‘Children From
Conflictual Families Don’t Do
Well.’ ” He goes on, “We haven’t
learned a goddamn thing from
that particular approach.”
Lawlis’ wife, Dr. Susan Franks,
a neuropsychologist on the
faculty at the Texas College of
Osteopathic Medicine in Fort
Worth, contextualizes his view.
“Where he gets frustrated is,
because the double-blind trial
puts everything in a box, how
do you start moving out of the
box?” she says. “How does science
advance? He’s just so outside the
box. He’s bringing in concepts and
integrating everything and com-
ing up with creative approaches.”
As a contrast, Franks points to
herself and other academic sub-
specialists. They’re “very focused
on the science and the numbers,
and we’re not the most creative
people.” She adds, “the data can’t
show everything.”
Dr. Nina Shapiro, an extensively
published UCLA surgeon and
author of Hype: A Doctor’s Guide to
Medical Myths, Exaggerated Claims
and Bad Advice, takes issue with
the couple’s outlook. “It’s preda-
tory on people who are desperate,
on people who are seeking some
sort of ‘alternative,’ ” she says. “If
you’re someone with charisma
and a following, it’s enticing to a
captive audience. But it’s sad.”
Lawlis’ latest book, Healing
Rhythms to Reset Wellness, will
be published in April. He wrote
it last year following “an a-ha
moment when I was studying
string theory and, at the same
time, I was reading about Egypt’s
ancient medicine.” The treatise,
which underscores his break from
the strictures of hard science
— “double-blind research,” he
writes, “doesn’t take into account
how human healing happens”
— contends that treating illness
is about balancing circadian
rhythms. “The reason we get
sick,” Lawlis says, “is that we get
out of tune with our rhythms.”
McGraw penned the book’s
foreword. “He offers works of
magnitude, not frivolity, not pop
psychology, not trends,” he writes
of his mentor, going on to extol
their half-century relationship.
“In everything he does, Dr. Lawlis’
impact has been profound.”