Where Are DeSoto And Hitlan? - Updated 4/9
March 30, 2008 by Do'C 
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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE 4/9/2008 appears at the bottom of this post (with link to April issue of JCN).
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“Keep your eyes open for March’s issue of JCN: “About Mercury and Autism: A need to clarify” by DeSoto and Hitlan.”
- M. Catherine DeSoto And Robert T. Hitlan
Earlier this year, Interverbal and I wrapped up a series about a journal article by M. Catherine DeSoto and Robert T. Hitlan, of the University of Northern Iowa.
M. Catherine DeSoto and Robert T. Hitlan J Child Neurol 2007; 22; 1308.
I’m not going to provide a recap, but our entire series is available at the following links.
For our original post (and comments from Dr. DeSoto in the comments section)
For some additional discussion
DeSoto & Hitlan, 2007: Revisited – Part One
DeSoto & Hitlan, 2007: Revisited – Part Two
For a summary and our conclusions about DeSoto and Hitlan, 2007
DeSoto & Hitlan, 2007: Revisited – Part Three
DeSoto and Hitlan apparently created a FAQ on their university website to address criticisms and questions about their article. (Warning, in my opinion this website is a bit of an eyesore, and not necessarily very organized. But, don’t let that deter you - bring your patience, and be willing to read and re-read, jumping around as necessary).
Sometime after the creation of the FAQ page, an additional page addressing questions from an e-mailer was posted.
Aside from not actually addressing all the questions asked, there was something quite interesting at the very end:
Keep your eyes open for March’s issue of JCN: “About Mercury and Autism: A need to clarify” by DeSoto and Hitlan.
Here’s the March issue of JCN.
Does anyone see anything by DeSoto and Hitlan?
Is it possibly published as a letter to the editor that would not appear in the TOC? Does anyone have a copy? Dr. DeSoto, can you provide a brief update?
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*** IMPORTANT UPDATE ***
Edited 4/9/2008 to add:
Along with a response, apparently the article appears in the April issue of JCN.
Michael Aschner
Response to Article by DeSoto and Hitlan on the Relationship Between Mercury Exposure and Autism
J Child Neurol 2008 23: 463.
http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/23/4/463
M. Catherine DeSoto and Robert T. Hitlan
Concerning Blood Mercury Levels and Autism: A Need to Clarify
J Child Neurol 2008 23: 463-465.
http://jcn.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/23/4/463-a
Tip o’ the hat to “M”
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Comment by _Arthur — 30 March, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
Maybe the article failed peer review ?
Comment by Harold L Doherty — 30 March, 2008 @ 5:29 pm
Thanks for the heads up on this critically important development in the autism world. Maybe there was a line up of articles for submission and they simply got put on hold?
Has your critique of the DeSoto and Hitlan material been journal published yet? I haven’t been able to find it anywhere.
Comment by Liz D. — 30 March, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
I have partial access to Sage Journals online through my university, but it is the electronic version.
The only thing that comes up is
Blood Levels of Mercury Are Related to Diagnosis of Autism: A Reanalysis of an Important Data Set
M. Catherine DeSoto and Robert T. Hitlan
Journal of Child Neurology, Nov 2007; vol. 22: pp. 1308 - 1311.
In earlier editions, letters and reviews are in the ToC and are found by search. My university library doesn’t have a physical subscription, just an electronic one, so I’ve been of all the help I can be.
Comment by Liz D. — 30 March, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
Not quite. You could always email the journal’s editor, Roger Brumback, and ask for clarification:
http://members.cox.net/rbrumback1/
Comment by Do'C — 30 March, 2008 @ 5:55 pm
That is certainly a possibility (I’d say the likely one at this point). Perhaps we’ll see “About Mercury and Autism: A need to clarify” by DeSoto and Hitlan, in the April or May issue of JCN.
Harold, if you are looking, perhaps you should consider seeking assistance for potential issues with comprehension on your part.
As I told you last time:
Comment by Harold L Doherty — 31 March, 2008 @ 2:44 am
“Harold, if you are looking, perhaps you should consider seeking assistance for potential issues with comprehension on your part.
As I told you last time:
The answer to your question is not likely to change no matter how many times you ask. There are no journal submission plans.”
OUCH! You got me there Do ‘C. I just thought that since you were spending so much time rooting around for DeSoto and Hitlan journal publications that you might have changed your mind and tried to submit your critique for journal publications. Of course even with my “potential issues for comprehension” I kind of figured your critique wouldn’t pass scholarly muster at any respected journal.
BTW, I always find it odd when a person who writes on autism or other such conditions tries to insult a person by accusing them of having “issues with comprehension”.
Comment by Prometheus — 31 March, 2008 @ 10:00 am
I, for one, would be interested in hearing what specific issues Mr. Doherty has with the critique of DeSoto and Hitlan - apart from the “concern” that it hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Of course, Mr. Doherty is probably aware that unpublished critiques of scientific articles are quite common in the various fields of science and medicine - often going by the name of “journal club”, “seminar” and “literature review”.
If he has a specific issue, perhaps he would be good enough to share it with the group. If not, perhaps he would be so good as to stop harping on a non-issue.
Prometheus
Comment by Joseph — 1 April, 2008 @ 3:28 pm
“Maybe the article failed peer review ?”
Maybe it contained several angry paragraphs in all-caps and the peer-reviewers didn’t think that looked very professional