A little read for all of you before this thread turns ugly
Faith healing is making news headlines all across America due to a dramatic and groundbreaking court battle. Daniel Hauser, age 13, suffers from Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer. He and his parents belong to a Native American tribe called Nemenhah, which emphasizes spiritual healing, and have been adamantly resisting chemotherapy treatments that could save the boy's life. The government stepped in under accusations of criminal, medical neglect. The Supreme Court ruled against them, and ordered that the child be given chemotherapy. In response, Daniel's mother took the boy and fled. A warrant has been issued for the mother's arrest.
If you see either of these two individuals, please call the police.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01407/cancer_1407301c.jpg)
Below is a article from Pediatrics which describes many of the details involved in religion-motivated medical neglect.
TITLE: Child Fatalities From Religion-motivated Medical Neglect
AUTHOR: Seth M. Asser, MD <1>, and Rita Swan, PhD <2>
ABSTRACT: Objective. To evaluate deaths of children from families in which faith healing was practiced in lieu of medical care and to determine if such deaths were preventable.
Design. Cases of child fatality in faith-healing sects were reviewed. Probability of survival for each was then estimated based on expected survival rates for children with similar disorders who receive medical care.
Participants. One hundred seventy-two children who died between 1975 and 1995 and were identified by referral or record search. Criteria for inclusion were evidence that parents withheld medical care because of reliance on religious rituals and documentation sufficient to determine the cause of death.
Results. One hundred forty fatalities were from conditions for which survival rates with medical care would have exceeded 90%. Eighteen more had expected survival rates of >50%. All but 3 of the remainder would likely have had some benefit from clinical help.
Conclusions. When faith healing is used to the exclusion of medical treatment, the number of preventable child fatalities and the associated suffering are substantial and warrant public concern. Existing laws may be inadequate to protect children from this form of medical neglect.
**CL Note - this study is from 1998**