Monday, April 28, 2008

The Power To Believe

A couple who prayed as their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes will be charged with second-degree reckless homicide. I guess God doesn't give better coverage than an HMO.

Madeline Neumann died March 23 at the family's rural Wisconsin home. An autopsy determined she died from undiagnosed diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body. Dale and Leilani Neumann each face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

The Neumanns have cooperated with investigators and are not under arrest, and have agreed to make an initial court appearance later this week. Leilani Neumann told the news media previously that she never expected her daughter to die. The family believes in the Bible, which says healing comes from God, but they have nothing against doctors, she said. Dale Neumann, a former police officer, has said he has friends who are doctors and started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter's body.

Madeline, who was being home-schooled, was in good health until she started getting tired about two weeks before she died, her mother said. When the situation got worse over Easter weekend, "we stayed fast in prayer then...we believed that she would recover."

According to a search warrant request, the girl's grandmother told investigators she had been ill for several days, was "very tired," and wanted to be held by her mother. the day before she died, Madeline couldn't walk or talk, her grandmother said.

The grandmother said she told Leilani Neumann to take the girl to the doctor but the mother said her daughter "would be fine and God would heal her," the court record said. The grandmother eventually contacted a daughter-in-law in California, who called police on a non-emergency line to report the girl was in a coma and needed medical help. An ambulance was dispatched to the home shortly before some friends in the home called 911 to report the girl had stopped breathing.

The Neumanns said they moved to Weston California about two years ago to open a coffee shop and be closer to other relatives. The couple has three other children, ages 13 to 16, all of which are still living. The family does not belong to an organized religion or faith, Leilani Neumann said.

It's hard to determine how much negligence was there. Yes, the kid died, so there's a clear case of negligence, but was it in part with their faith? In March, an Oregon couple who belonged to a church that preaches against medical care and believes in treating illness with prayer were charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death of their 15-month-old daughter (the toddler died of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection). If the Neumanns meet the same level of religious fanaticism in court or just rate as shitty, stupid parents, we'll have to see...

What is truly capable of healing, from The Power To Believe album / tour back in 2003, is King Crimson with "Level Five"...

...and "The Power To Believe"

Amen!

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