Parents Pray Instead of Visiting Doctor - Daughter Dies

The YouTube submitter has great information, so it is copied here:

An 11-year-old town of Weston, Wisconsin, girl died Sunday from a treatable form of diabetes after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical treatment, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said this afternoon.

Vergin said the girl's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, believe she died because they apparently didn't have enough faith.

Members of the Neumann family operate Monkey Mo coffee shop in Weston, and a sign on the business' window today said it had been closed "due to a family emergency."

The child's aunt from California asked police to respond to the home to check on her niece, Madeline Neumann, Vergin said. Neumann then was taken by ambulance to Saint Clare's Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Vergin said the cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis, which develops when a person has too little insulin in their body. Left untreated, diabetic ketoacidosis might cause a person to lose consciousness and die, according the Mayo Clinic Web site.

Vergin said Madeline, who went by her middle name, Kara, had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

"It is our understanding that instead of seeking medical help, they chose to pray over her and their faith would heal her," Vergin said.

"She got sicker and sicker until she was dead," he told The Associated Press.

He said the family has no ties to a specific church or religion. "They have a little Bible study of a few people."

Police will continue to investigate Neumann's death and forward their findings to the Marathon County district attorney's office to determine if a crime was committed, Vergin said.

A telephone message left at the Neumann home by the Wausau Daily Herald was not immediately returned today.

Vergin said the girl had not seen a doctor since age 3. Police have not had contact with her family in the past.

The girl had attended Riverside Elementary School in the D.C. Everest School District during the first semester but didn't return for the second semester.

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said.

"They are still in the home," Vergin said. "There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see."

Kathy Ziembo, an advanced practice registered nurse for Aspirus Wausau Hospital, said diabetic ketoacidosis is a treatable condition that the hospital helps patients with several times a week.

"You know if there is something wrong," Ziembo said.

A shortage of insulin causes the body to break down fat, which produces toxic acids known as ketones, Ziembo said. Treatment generally takes a few days in the hospital as patients are given insulin intravenously and fluids are replaced, she said.

People with Type 1 diabetes are at the highest risk of developing diabetic ketoacidosis, according to the Mayo Clinic. Type 1 diabetes in children typically develops as a genetic condition that requires insulin treatments.

Type 2 diabetes patients are able to generate some insulin, but not enough. Type 2 typically develops as the result of a health issue and is often preventable, according to doctors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/28/wprayer128.xml

I normally dislike Nancy Grace, but this kind of negligence is inexcusable. The issue here isn't freedom of religion, but the denying of medical care to their daughter.
kronosposeidonsays...

Upvote, even though I can't stand that nitwit Nancy Grace. Stories like these are too important to get hung up on who presents it.

But damn, I can't stand Nancy Grace.

Did I mention that I can't stand Nancy Grace?

Because I can't stand Nancy Grace.

Nancy Fucking Grace.

Can't stand her.

spoco2says...

Upvote, because this is a fine example of eschewing modern scientific knowledge and the damage it can bring.

Now, there are many people who say that 'Not everything new is good you know', and 'people of days of yore had a better idea of how to live', and in some ways they can be right (the constant scrambling for more consumer items etc.).

BUT, when we have come so far in treating so many things that people needlessly used to die from, such as this, why would you turn your back on the advances and in doing so KILL YOUR CHILD.

How could you live with yourself as parents knowing that you'd KILLED YOUR CHILD because of some ridiculous belief that scientifically proven medical help wasn't good enough for your daughter. As a father I find it unthinkable to not do everything in your power to help your child.


Man, how many different effects and filters can they apply to ONE PHOTO... you could just leave it there, static... but no... today we can't have a static image on screen, let's keep it moving, changing colour, having 'aging effects' applied to it... man, just ridiculous.


And, I've never seen this woman host, but OH MY GOD she is annoying... Over the top, interrupting, loud, obnoxious, self important... ARGH, I can see the problem with dispersing a piece from her show, as it is indeed promoting an obnoxious woman.

CrushBugsays...

As a homeschooler, her question about whether or not the child was homeschooled has no bearing on the medical issue, other than to point out that the child lived in isolation, which, by the way, is completely abnormal for homeschooling.

And yeah, I really can't stand to hear her voice for too long.

garmachisays...

What shocks me the most about this is that somebody, somewhere, likes Nancy Grace enough to think "Hey, she'd be a great person to put on the TV... people will really respond to her well..."

Xaxsays...

The authorities aren't going to do anything about the girl's siblings because there are no signs of abuse? Intentional or not, a child dead from neglect is abuse; get those other kids the hell out of there. Religious freedom is not a valid defence here, any more than me microwaving a baby because God told me to.

And yes, somebody please send Nancy Grace to Iraq.

gorillamansays...

Man, I love it when these things happen. The parents get to watch their daughter die and then go to jail while they're still grieving. The life of a child is a small price to pay to inflict that kind of pain on people like that.

Wakesays...

God I hate Nancy Grace. RICH WHITE KID DEAD/MISSING GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY.

The best is when she made that woman kill herself. How is she still on the air.

davidrainesays...

>> ^YouMakeKittyMad:
how is nancy grace's personality inspiring greater indignation than this story?


Possibly because although the story is horrific, between school shootings and political unrest and war overseas, we have become accustomed to horror. We want a way to overcome horror, we want others to show us how to become greater than ourselves, and we want rise to the challenges. When instead we see people confronted with horror abandoning their duty and telling others what to believe instead of trusting them to make their own decisions, it makes us extremely angry.

My two cents, anyways. If I had my bronze star, I would have downvoted this; although the story is horrible, the reporting is sickening and should not be encouraged. There are other news outlets that broke this story, and did so more responsibly.

Lithicsays...

Wow, I had no idea who this lady was before this clip, but 1:15 into I already can't watch any more. My god she's a bitch. I'd so much rather go dig up a text version of the story then watch another second of her.

grahamslamsays...

I too hate the woman. She is quite the bitch. I think it's sad the parents were not smart enough to seek medical help, but this is just nature weeding out the ignorant. Why should my tax dollars go towards policing the world. Jesus, when will people stop trying to police every aspect of every body. Honestly, the only thing the parents are guilty of is ignorance. How would they know their daughter would die so quickly. There are a lot of people who don't ever seek medical help in this country, should we create a law that says you HAVE to seek medical help in ANY situation? I mean come on, it's not your kid who died. It's not your choice to make, its the parents and now they have to live with a bad decision, just like if they were rushing their kid to a hospital and swerved left of center and hit a truck head on and wiped out half their family. You think they should also go to JAIL because of poor driving or would losing half their family be punishment enough? I do believe these things are called accidents because they aren't intentional.

dgandhisays...

>> ^grahamslam:

Suspending rational belief, despite having far off relatives request that you seek medical attention is more then ignorance, it's willful ignorance which leads to death. Children are wards, not property, they can not be disposed of at will. Parents have a, perfectly reasonable, legal obligation to do what a reasonable person would do to promote and protect the wellbeing of their children. If these people didn't do that, then leaving their other children with them is the criminal negligence of the rest of society as well.

If you don't think the government has any place defending peoples right to not be killed, what exactly is it's function?

jwraysays...

She interviews like Bill O'rly.

This story is a terrible thing that has happened millions of times in the past.

At least the dead girl won't indoctrinate her own children with the same bullshit.

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