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.
