BUTLER - A doctor who had been accused of causing the death of a 5-year-old autistic boy through a controversial treatment said he plans to continue treating patients now that criminal charges have been dropped.

Butler County prosecutors on Tuesday withdrew charges of involuntary manslaughter and related counts against Dr. Roy Kerry, 70, because they were unsure they could prove his actions amounted to a crime. The boy, Abubakar Tariq Nadama, went into cardiac arrest in Kerry's Portersville office in August 2005 immediately after receiving chelation therapy.

At a news conference Wednesday at his attorney Al Lindsay's office, Kerry read a statement, but declined to answer questions on advice of counsel because the state is seeking to take away his medical license. He also faces a civil suit filed by the boy's parents.

"I plan to continue my life's work helping many patients with serious illnesses with the highest quality of advanced integrative medical care that I can offer," he said.

"I appreciate the district attorney's office recognizing this as a tragic medical event and removing it from the criminal court," he said, adding that he was treated with courtesy and respect.

The district attorney's office said it asked that the case be dismissed after reassessing the merits of the prosecution.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger said, "We're not saying his actions weren't negligent or careless, we just don't believe we could prove they were criminal."

Goldinger also noted the civil suit and administrative action Kerry faces.

Lindsay said he had witnesses prepared for trial to explain that what Kerry had done could not have caused the boy's death.

Chelation uses a synthetic amino acid called EDTA to remove heavy metals from the body and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating acute heavy metal poisoning. Some people believe autism is caused by heavy metal poisoning and that chelation represents a promising treatment for it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, however, say medical evidence does not support that belief, and the drug is not approved for that use.

The boy was given a form of the drug called Disodium EDTA instead of the preferred form, Calcium Disodium EDTA, but using the disodium version would not have caused death, Lindsay said.

Twice before, the boy had been treated using Disodium EDTA and showed improvement, Lindsay said.

But on Aug. 23, 2005, he went into cardiac arrest immediately after treatment.

Prosecutors theorized the boy died lack of oxygen to the brain caused by the drug essentially "killing" the lining of the left ventricle of his heart, Lindsay said.

A doctor for the defense was prepared to testify that no medical literature links the type of EDTA Kerry used to heart damage. Whatever caused the damage had begun to do so some six to eight hours before the boy was treated that day, Lindsay said.

Though Kerry voluntarily surrendered his license pending the outcome of the case, it will be reinstated based on the withdrawal of the criminal charges, at least for the time being, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.

The department, which licenses doctors, filed six disciplinary charges against Kerry in 2006 and those charges are still pending. A hearing hasn't been scheduled and Kerry's attorney in that matter did not return a message seeking comment.

Attorney John Gismondi, who represents the family in the civil case, said he didn't agree with the decision to drop criminal charges and maintains the wrong drug was incorrectly administered.

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