The boy’s death raises concerns about the treatment of irregular oxygen

The death of a 5 -year -old child in an excessive room in Michigan caused calls to further supervision of oxygen therapy in the manufacture of well -being, which is not overly supervised before another tragedy occurred.

Thomas Cooper was killed on January 31 when a fire broke out in an excessive room at the Oxford Center, a substitute clinic in a suburb of Troy in Detroit. On Monday, the founder of the Oxford Center, the CEO and three of its employees were accused of Thomas’s death.

Thomas Cooper, 5 years old, from Royal Ok, Michigan.
Compliment from the Thomas Cooper family

Excessive rooms are pressed, which are tube -like devices that lie or sit in treatment, depending on the type of room. The treatment includes breathing in the air consisting of 100 % oxygen, which helps the body to heal more quickly but creates a very combustible environment. The treatment method has been disinfected by the Food and Drug Administration to help in more than ten cases including carbon monoxide poisoning, severe wounds, and pressure in divers.

The Oxford Center website lists more than 100 cases She says she is treating, including many of the FDA (FDA) has not agreed to treat oxygen, such as cancer, dyslexia, Alzheimer’s disease, Lyme disease and autism – although it is not illegal to use excessive rooms for these purposes. In a statement of NBC news, a lawyer at the Oxford Center said the center “is disappointed” from the charges against four employees.

“The timing of these accusations is surprising, as the typical protocol has not been completed after a fire -related accident. Sam Vitaly said via e -mail about Thomas’s death:” There are still great questions about how this happens. “

Thomas was receiving oxygen therapy for hyperactivity in sleep and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to his family’s lawyer, which is not among the cases approved by the Food and Drug Administration for such treatment. The Michigan Prosecutor Dana Nessel said that the boy died within seconds after one spark began a fire in the excessive room where he was. The officials have not yet said about the cause of the fire.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Nessel accused the Oxford Center employees of obtaining “safety from among their lowest considerations”, but they said that officials have no way to know the danger until it is too late, and they cannot investigate other facilities in a proactive manner.

“The Michigan Law does not require any supervision of the use of hypocritical rooms, so without there being a kind of possible reason for the belief that there are crimes committed that involve excessive rooms in other places in the state, we will not have the authority of entry and inspection.”

Michael Kohler, Vice President of the Ministry of Firefighting, said that the Oxford Center was undergoing inspections every few years by the Troy Fire Department. He said that the center submitted an application for a permit when it was opened, indicating that it will use excessive rooms, and the last time was searched in March 2023.

“But our inspections focus on fire and safety,” Kohler said in an interview on Friday. “There is nothing that covers the process or maintains the rooms itself.”

While hospitals that use excessive rooms with the symbols of the National Fire Protection Association, Michigan are not unique in the lack of organizational framework for superior oxygen treatment, a traditional health care organization and its enlargement in evaluation, the executive director of the proportional. Government organization.

Currently, approximately 150 facilities have been adopted throughout the country by the group, with two in Michigan.

Peters said that the accreditation process includes searches on the site and verifying that the equipment is preserved and the specialists are properly trained, and it costs about 10,000 dollars for accreditation, which lasts for three to four years.

He estimated that thousands of spa, wellness companies and other storefronts are operating excessive rooms in the United States without being accredited, and he said that he fears that many would not support strict criteria.

Two Democratic lawmakers in Michigan, Senator Stephanie Chang and Deputy State Sharon McDONEL, work together to explore organizational options after Thomas’s death.

Zhang said she was anxious about what seemed to be countless problems that led to the fire, based on what was identified by the public prosecutor in Michigan, including the lack of a properly trained technician running the excessive room.

“Let’s fix all these gaps,” said Zhang. She said that she and McDONEL are aimed at providing legislation in the spring.

McDonnell said it is important not only to make excessive surfing rooms safer but also to prevent companies from submitting unintended claims about what treatment could do.

She said: “People benefit from parents who suffer from conditions that are difficult to treat, and the type of controlling the parents’ despair.” “It is incomprehensible.”

Thomas’s death comes at a time when prominent oxygen therapy has spread, and has gained steam in recent years thanks to celebrities who described it with everything from anti -aging to strengthening their mental health. Food and Drug Administration to caution Some claims about what excessive rooms can do are “unpaved” and encourage patients to go only to the approved facilities.

Excess room fires are rare, but they are not unprecedented. In 2009, a 4 -year -old child died and grandmother After a fire in the uncomfortable Florida clinic, where the boy was receiving a treatment for brain blade. Two employees were charged In their death, one of them was a doctor His medical license was lost.

Peters said that the 2009 case did not stimulate national safety regulations. He hopes that the death of Thomas will.

“We urgently need mandatory dependence,” he said. “We hope this page will run.”

While there are guidelines on how to build and operate hyperactivity rooms safely, there is no federal, governmental or local supervision on practice outside hospitals. The Food and Drug Administration said in an e -mail in the past month that it organizes some excess rooms that meet the definition of the agency for second -degree medical devices, which “dedicated to use in the diagnosis of the disease or other cases, or in treatment, relief, treatment or disease prevention.” But he does not organize medicine and refers NBC news to Medicare & Medicaid service centers, the joint committee and state medical licensing agencies for more information.

Brian O’Connor, chief engineer at the National Fire Protection Association, said that Medicare & Medicaid services centers require medical care providers and doctor to comply with parts of the National Fire Protection Law, but this does not apply to other facilities, which still must be adhered to by building laws and local fires.

The joint committee, a non -profit organization that adopts more than 24,000 health care programs around the world, said in an email that it contains emergency procedures and training on hospitals that have excessive rooms, but they do not adopt places like the Oxford Center.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health in Michigan, the Vocational Safety Agency, and the Ministry of Licensing and Organizational Affairs all said they have no supervision of excessive rooms. The licensing agency said the facilities that use excessive rooms are not required to be licensed, which Peters said is a shock.

“Why?” He said. “Even the hairdresser must have a license, and its salon will not completely blow up.”


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