I feel that the death was a result of medicines not conducive for a 4 month child. Homeopathy, as i understand, is good for older kids & adults; and it comes with a lot of dietary restrictions.
While we can debate about the pros and cons, it seems sad that the legal system doubts the love and seriousness of the parents to protect and save their child. Jayawanth, you have not mentioned as to how old your kids were at the time. (?) --- In ZESTAlternative@yahoogroups.com, "Jayawanth" <jayawant...@...> wrote: > > If I quote my personal experience it will be dismissed as anecdotal evidence. > Still it is worth considering this: > > When my children developed eczema in US, I had seen two of my neighbourâs > children (Indians) suffer due to conventional treatment. The first child had > to be given increasing levels of steroids and by 11 yrs she was being treated > for Asthma. The second had undergone developmental problems and severe skin > problems due to conventional treatments. Dermatologists are clueless when it > comes to most skin problems. When we tried various Homeopathic doctors one of > them had amazing success. When I queried her more about the basis for the > treatment she said: > > Eczema is a manifestation of improper functioning of the Immune system. If > you suppress the manifestation on the skin, it will come back in other > stronger forms e.g. Asthma. Our conventional paeditrician impressed by the > outcome started referring other eczema patients to her. > > With the human body subjected to constant bombardment of man-made chemicals > (25,000+) it is no wonder that the immune system is overwhelmed. Eczema > occurs more often in the âhygienicâ western world! Homeopathy is an art > and hence one has to exercise discretion and active participation. I doubt if > homeopathic treatment caused the death. Conventional treatment would have > made the child more miserable and die of some other severe form. > > > > From: ZESTAlternative@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:zestalternat...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jogesh Motwani > Sent: Saturday, May 09, 2009 9:09 AM > To: zest > Cc: Dr. Leo Rebello; Jagannath Chatterjee; Sudha P Iyer > Subject: [ZESTAlternative] Parents prosecuted after homeopathic treatment > leads to daughter's death > > > > > > > > > > Parents prosecuted after homeopathic treatment leads to daughter's death > > > Friday, May 8, 2009 > > > Thomas Sam, 42, and his wife Manju Sam, 36, from Sydney > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney> , Australia > <http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Australia> , are undergoing trial for > manslaughter <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/manslaughter> by gross > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gross_negligence> negligence for the death of > their nine-month-old child, Gloria. She died from infection caused by severe > eczema <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eczema> after they shunned effective > conventional medical treatments for homeopathy > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/homeopathy> , a form of alternative medicine > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alternative_medicine> that has been described > as pseudoscience <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pseudoscience> . Articles in > peer-reviewed <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review> academic > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_journal> journals including Social > Science <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Science_%26_Medicine> & > Medicine have characterized homeopathy as a form of quackery > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/quackery> . > > > > Gloria developed severe eczema at the age of four months and the parents were > advised to send the child to a skin > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dermatology> specialist. Thomas Sam, a > practising homeopath, instead decided to treat his daughter himself. His > daughter's condition deteriorated, to the point that the baby spent all her > energy battling the infections caused by the constant breaking of the skin, > leading to severe malnutrition and, eventually, her death. By the end, > Gloria's eczema was so severe that her skin broke every time her parents > changed her clothes or nappy, and in the words of the Crown prosecutor, Mark > Tedeschi, QC, "Gloria spent a lot of the last five months of her life crying, > irritable, scratching and the only thing that gave her solace was to suck on > her mother's breast." Gloria also became unable to move her legs. > > Mr. Tedeschi also told the court that, over the last five months of her life, > "Gloria's eczema played a devastating role in her overall health and it is > asserted by the Crown that both her parents knew this and discussed it with > each other." However, despite their child's severe illness, and her lack of > improvement, the Sams continued to shun conventional medical treatment, > instead seeking help from other homeopaths and naturopaths. Gloria > temporarily improved during the rare times they used conventional treatments, > but they soon dropped them in favour of homeopathy, and she consistently > worsened. > > Allegedly, Thomas' sister pleaded with him to send Gloria to a conventional > medical doctor, but he replied "I am not able to do that". The parents are > also accused of putting their social life ahead of their child, taking her on > a trip to India and leaving her to servants while embarking on a busy social > schedule, and giving her homeopathic drops instead of using the prescription > creams they had been given. > > Gloria was finally taken to the emergency department shortly before her > death. By this time, "her skin was weeping, her body malnourished and her > corneas melting", according to the Sydney Morning Herald. > > Speaking in the parents' defense, Tom Molomby, SC, said that, as the parents > came from India, where homeopathy is in common use, they should be declared > not guilty due to cultural differences. > > Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine which treats patients with > massively diluted forms of substances that, if given to a healthy person > undiluted, would cause symptoms similar to the disease. Typical treatments > take the dilutions, with ritualised shaking between each step of the > dilution, past the level where any molecules of the original substance are > likely to remain; for homeopathic treatments to work, basic well-understood > concepts in chemistry and physics would have to be wrong. There is no > evidence that homeopathy is more effective than placebo > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/placebo> for any condition. >
