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'Homeopathy' Parents Charged Over Baby Daughter Gloria's Death In Australia | World News | Sky News
Homeopathy Couple 'Let Their Baby Girl Die'
12:16pm UK, Wednesday May 06, 2009
A couple in Australia have gone on trial charged with manslaughter after their nine-month-old baby died of septicaemia and malnutrition.
Baby Gloria's life could have been saved if her parents had sought conventional medical treatment for her even days before her death, a court has heard.
Thomas Sam, 42, and his 36-year-old wife Manju apparently shunned conventional treatment for their daughter's severe eczema in favour of homeopathic remedies.
The couple have pleaded not guilty in New South Wales state Supreme Court.
The Indian-born, university-educated pair face a maximum of 25 years each in prison if convicted.
Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi told the jury the Sams admitted Gloria to a Sydney hospital only three days before she died in May 2002.
He said "her life and her health could have been saved" with earlier proper medical attention.
The two parents were almost totally fixated on their social obligations - visiting people and traveling around - to the exclusion of any concern about Gloria's deteriorating state of health.
Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi
Any reasonable parent would have sought urgent conventional medical help as the child's health steadily deteriorated over the final five months of her life due to severe eczema, Mr Tedeschi said.
Instead, Thomas Sam, a college lecturer in homeopathy, apparently continued to consult homeopaths and natural medicine practitioners as his daughter lost 20% of her body weight.
She weighed just 11 pounds and 11 ounces when she died.
The parents rarely consulted conventional doctors and never contacted a skin specialist after a nurse noticed their previously healthy baby had developed severe eczema at age four, the prosecutor said.
The court also heard Manju Sam, a computer professional, disregarded a doctor's advice not to take the child to India to visit relatives in the final three months of her life.
"The two parents were almost totally fixated on their social obligations - visiting people and traveling around - to the exclusion of any concern about Gloria's deteriorating state of health," Mr Tedeschi said.
Homeopathy is a therapy based on a theory that diseases can be successfully treated with minute doses of substances that cause reactions in the human body similar to the disease symptoms.
Gloria became malnourished battling against frequent infections that invaded her bloodstream through skin broken by her severe rashes. The trial continues.
Homeopathy Couple 'Let Their Baby Girl Die'
12:16pm UK, Wednesday May 06, 2009
A couple in Australia have gone on trial charged with manslaughter after their nine-month-old baby died of septicaemia and malnutrition.
Baby Gloria's life could have been saved if her parents had sought conventional medical treatment for her even days before her death, a court has heard.
Thomas Sam, 42, and his 36-year-old wife Manju apparently shunned conventional treatment for their daughter's severe eczema in favour of homeopathic remedies.
The couple have pleaded not guilty in New South Wales state Supreme Court.
The Indian-born, university-educated pair face a maximum of 25 years each in prison if convicted.
Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi told the jury the Sams admitted Gloria to a Sydney hospital only three days before she died in May 2002.
He said "her life and her health could have been saved" with earlier proper medical attention.
The two parents were almost totally fixated on their social obligations - visiting people and traveling around - to the exclusion of any concern about Gloria's deteriorating state of health.
Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi
Any reasonable parent would have sought urgent conventional medical help as the child's health steadily deteriorated over the final five months of her life due to severe eczema, Mr Tedeschi said.
Instead, Thomas Sam, a college lecturer in homeopathy, apparently continued to consult homeopaths and natural medicine practitioners as his daughter lost 20% of her body weight.
She weighed just 11 pounds and 11 ounces when she died.
The parents rarely consulted conventional doctors and never contacted a skin specialist after a nurse noticed their previously healthy baby had developed severe eczema at age four, the prosecutor said.
The court also heard Manju Sam, a computer professional, disregarded a doctor's advice not to take the child to India to visit relatives in the final three months of her life.
"The two parents were almost totally fixated on their social obligations - visiting people and traveling around - to the exclusion of any concern about Gloria's deteriorating state of health," Mr Tedeschi said.
Homeopathy is a therapy based on a theory that diseases can be successfully treated with minute doses of substances that cause reactions in the human body similar to the disease symptoms.
Gloria became malnourished battling against frequent infections that invaded her bloodstream through skin broken by her severe rashes. The trial continues.
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