The 5-year-old’s death in a high-pressure chamber in Michigan prompted a call for more surveillance of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the barely monitored wellness industry before another tragedy began.
Thomas Cooper was murdered on January 31, causing a fire in a high-pressure room at Oxford Centre, an alternative medical clinic in the suburbs of Detroit, Troy. On Monday, the founder and CEO of the Oxford Centre and three employees were charged with Thomas’ death.
Courtesy of Thomas Cooper
High-pressure chambers are pressured micro devices where people are sitting for lying or for treatment, depending on the type of chamber. This treatment involves breathing in the air, consisting of 100% oxygen. This helps the body heal more quickly, but it also creates a highly flammable environment. The treatment was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to support more than 12 conditions, including scuba divers carbon monoxide poisoning, severe wounds, and decompression disease.
The Oxford Centre website lists more than 100 conditions it treats, including the fact that the FDA does not approve of highly basic oxygen therapy such as cancer, dyslexia, Alzheimer’s disease, Lyme disease, and autism. In a statement to NBC News, the Oxford Centre’s lawyer said the Centre was “disappointed” by the charges filed against the four staff.
“The timing of these fees is surprising as the typical protocol after a fire-related accident is not yet complete. There are still notable questions about how this happened,” Samvitale said in an email about Thomas’ death.
Thomas was receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sleep apnea and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a lawyer for his family who is not approved by the FDA for such treatment. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the boy died within seconds after he caused a fire in the high pressure chamber where he was. Authorities have yet to say what caused the fire.
At a press conference Tuesday, Nessel accused Oxford Centre staff of being “safe among the lowest considerations,” but said authorities had no way of knowing about the danger until it’s too late and could not actively investigate other facilities.
“Michigan law does not require monitoring for high-pressure chamber use, so we are not authorized to perform testing unless there is a certain possible cause to believe that crimes involved in high-pressure chambers are being committed elsewhere in the state,” Nessel said.
The Oxford Centre was subject to inspections by the Troy Fire Station every few years, said Michael Kohler, the assistant director of the fire station. He said he applied for a permit when the centre opened, indicating that it used a high-pressure chamber and was last inspected in March 2023.
“But our inspections focus on fire and life safety,” Kohler said in a phone interview Friday. “There’s nothing to cover the operation or maintenance of the chamber itself.”
Michigan, a code-compliant hospital developed by the standard development organization, the National Fire Prevention Association, is not unique in its lack of regulatory frameworks for hyperbaric oxygen therapy outside of traditional medical facilities, says John Peters, executive director of UnderEA & Hyperbaric Medical Society, supplements the Hyperting Hypersings Champers facility. Government regulations.
At this time, nearly 150 facilities across the country are certified by the group, with two in Michigan.
The certification process involves on-site inspection and verification that equipment is maintained and professionals are properly trained, and certification lasting for three to four years costs around $10,000, Peters said.
He estimated that thousands of spas, wellness companies and other storefronts operate high-pressure rooms in the US without certification, and said he feared that many people may not support strict standards.
Two Michigan Democrats, state Sen. Stephanie Chan and state Sen. Sharon McDonnell are working together to explore regulatory options after Thomas’ death.
Chang said he is concerned about what appears to be countless issues that have led to the fire, based on what the Michigan Attorney General outlined.
“Let’s fix all these loopholes,” Chan said. She said she and McDonnell aim to introduce laws in the spring.
McDonnell said it’s important to not only make the hyperbaric chamber safer, but also stop businesses from making unproven claims about what they can do with their treatment.
“People are using parents with difficult-to-treat children and just monetize their parents’ despair,” she said. “I just can’t understand that.”
Thomas’ death came from the proliferation of use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and has gained steam in recent years thanks to celebrities who touted everything from anti-aging to boosting mental health. The FDA warns that some claims about what high-pressure chambers can do are “unproven” and encourages patients to go to certified facilities only.
High-pressure chamber fires are rare, but not unprecedented. In 2009, the 4-year-old and his grandmother died after a flames at an uncertified Florida Clinic where the boy was being treated for cerebral palsy. Two staff members were charged with death, one of whom was a doctor who lost his medical license.
The 2009 incident did not promote national security regulations, Peters said. He expects Thomas to die.
“We need desperately forced certification,” he said. “I hope this will turn into a page.”
There are guidelines on how to safely construct and operate high-pressure chambers, but federal, state, or local oversight of non-hospital practices is inconsistent. In an email last month, the FDA said it regulates certain high-pressure chambers that meet the definition of an agency of Class II medical devices intended to be used in the diagnosis of illness or other conditions or in the prevention of a treatment, palliation, treatment or disease. However, it did not regulate medical practice and introduced NBC News to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Joint Commission and the state medical licensing agency for further details.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require Medicare and Medicaid providers to comply with some of the National Fire Prevention Association codes, but that does not apply to other facilities. This must follow local buildings and fire laws, said Brian O’Connor, a senior engineer with the National Fire Prevention Association.
The Joint Committee, a nonprofit that accredits more than 24,000 healthcare programs around the world, said in an email that it trains hospitals with similar rooms for emergency procedures and training drills but do not certify locations such as the Oxford Centre.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Health, its Occupational Safety and Licensing and Regulation All said there is no monitoring of high-pressure rooms. The licensing agency said facilities that use high-pressure chambers do not need to obtain licenses, but Peters said it was shocking.
“Why?” he said. “Even hairstylists need to have a license and she’s not going to blow up the entire salon.”
