From Australia comes the story of two parents convicted of manslaughter for killing their daughter. How? They “treated” her eczema with homeopathic remedies instead of conventional medicine.
This is an extremely sad and disturbing case. Gloria Thomas, nine months old, suffered from eczema, a skin condition that is treatable with medical creams. Instead, her parents decided to treat her with homeopathic remedies, even skipping a scheduled visit to a dermatologist so they could fly to India. Her body required more nutrition than her mother’s milk could provide because it was busy trying to fight off the infection.
By the time she died, she was the weight of an average three-month-old, her body was covered with angry blotches and her once black hair had turned completely white.
Nine days after returning from India, where the father’s brother “prescribed” homeopathic remedies, they took her to the hospital:
Nine days after they returned from India, Thomas and Manju Sam finally took Gloria to hospital for an eye infection they thought was conjunctivitis, and she was immediately rushed into emergency to be treated by a team of medical experts. It turned out her cornea was melting.
Dr Susannah Cunningham, who was then a pediatric emergency registrar, said Gloria was among only a handful of children whose cases she had been unable to forget.
“I think it’s the pain that has made this case stand out for me in my memory,” Dr Cunningham said.
“I can vividly recall where she was in the emergency department. I remember the 6½ hours I was involved very clearly. She was in a lot of pain and had been suffering and that’s something that doesn’t sit well with any pediatrician.”
She eventually died in hospital of sepsis which had caused bleeding in her lungs and airways.
When anyone asks “what’s the harm in homeopathy?” remember Gloria Thomas. Remember the suffering she went through for half of her short life because of homeopathy. Imagine the little girl screaming in pain for hours and hours because of homeopathy. Remember her death because of homeopathy.
Homeopathy kills.
#1 by rickr on 10 June 2009 - 10:54 am
Homeopathy may have contributed to the death of this little girl, but it may have been the subjects prescribing the homeopathic remedies. To completely deny an alternative medicinal practice is ignorant. To completely rely on Corporate Pharmaceuticals is ridiculous. Corporate Pharmaceuticals have killed more people than any Homeopathic remedy. You go right ahead and keep overpaying for drugs that simply mask your symptoms, I’ll continue to rely on Homeopathic and Natural remedies, even if it kills me. Least I’m not filling the pockets of Corporate pigs.
#2 by Brad on 10 June 2009 - 11:17 am
You have every right to put whatever you want in your own body. If you want to delude yourself into believing that homeopathic “remedies” are any more effective than placebo and are better than scientific remedies, go right ahead. If you want to give some huckster your hard-earned money for vials of water that they banged on a table, go right ahead. You can make whatever choice you want.
Gloria Thomas could not make that choice. Her parents forced her to be “treated” homeopathically, and that killed her. Her parents’ misguided beliefs that homeopathic “medicine” could cure her killed her.
Homeopathy has been proven time and time again that it’s ineffective, by the way. It’s been looked at scientifically many times, and every time it’s come up lacking. That’s not ignorance speaking, that’s fact.
#3 by Dr. Nancy Malik on 10 July 2009 - 8:42 am
Homoeopathy (Micro Doses Mega Results) cures even when Conventional Allopathic Medicine (CAM) fails
#4 by Brad on 10 July 2009 - 8:50 am
@Dr. Nancy Malik
No it doesn’t.
#5 by Dr. Nancy Malik on 08 August 2009 - 9:55 pm
Homeopathy 4 Everyone, the world’s largest and most popular e-journal on homeopathy with 37,000 active subscriptions in 200 countries. It’s free. It’s available at http://www.hpathy.com/ezine
#6 by jclifford1999 on 10 November 2010 - 8:52 pm
Homeopathy doesn’t kill, stupid parent that don’t know how to seek the assistance of a professional when they have a scheduled appointment and instead fly to country where their medical knowledge is behind, and lacking kill. Who leaves the USA and goes to India for medical treatment? No, really who does that but an idiot?