Skip to main content.
Related sites:
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Web religionnewsblog.com
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
Ava Worthington, Faith Healing, Followers of Christ (Oregon):

Child died for lack of treatment, medical examiner says

The Oregonian, USA
Mar. 21, 2008
www.oregonlive.com
  • Article Tools  • Share This Story

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 20948 • Posted: Saturday March 22, 2008  


A 16-month-old child who died at home this month in Clackamas County could easily have been saved by basic medical treatment, according to the state medical examiner’s office.

Dr. Christopher Young, a deputy state medical examiner, said today that Ava Worthington died from bacterial bronchial pneumonia and sepsis, both easily treatable with antibiotics.

Young said the infant’s breathing was further compromised by a benign cystic mass in her neck, a mass that had never been medically addressed and could have been removed.

“It had enlarged to the point that it was pressing down on her esophagus,” Young said. Because of the restricted airway, he said, the child could not cough easily to clear her lungs.

Faith Healing
The term ‘faith healing’ refers to healing that occurs supernaturally — as the result of prayer rather than the use of medicines or the involvement of physicians or other medical care.
But while faith healings do take place today just as they did in the early Christian church, the teachings of some churches, movements and individuals on this subject amount to spiritual abuse.
Legitimate churches and movements do not equal using drugs or receiving proper medical attention with unbelief, insufficient faith, or otherwise sinning against God.

Commentary/resources by ReligionNewsBlog.com

Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies investigated the March 2 death and referred the case to the district attorney’s office for consideration of criminal prosecution, according to Detective Jim Strovink, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Greg Horner, Clackamas County chief deputy district attorney, said if his office determines no crime has been committed, the case will dropped. Otherwise, it will be turned over to a grand jury.

“We are reviewing the case and our investigation is progressing,” Horner said.

According to Young, the child’s parents are members of Followers of Christ, an Oregon City church that practices spiritual healing rather than seeking medical treatment, even when children become gravely ill.

A June 1998 investigation by The Oregonian found that of the 78 children buried in the church’s cemetery since 1955, 21 died from treatable diseases. The Followers of Christ came under intense scrutiny in 1997 and 1998, when three children died after their parents denied them basic medical care. One of them, 11-year-old Bo Phillips, had diabetes.

Police saw Phillips’ death as a clear case of abuse, because the state medical examiner ruled that the disease was easily treatable. But Clackamas County’s district attorney at the time, Terry Gustafson, said she could not prosecute Phillips’ parents because of ambiguity in state law.

Gustafson’s remarks set off a firestorm of debate when the state legislature convened in January 1999.

After arguments over religious freedom, parental rights and the state’s responsibility to protect children, a compromise bill emerged in the final days of the session and was quickly signed into law.

The new law, which will apply if criminal charges are filed in the Worthington case, eliminated the spiritual healing defense in cases of second-degree manslaughter, first- and second-degree criminal mistreatment and nonpayment of child support.

Technorati Tags: ,

Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe: Religion News Blog RSS feed  |  Religion News Blog RSS feed Subscribe by topic: Ava Worthington, Faith Healing, Followers of Christ (Oregon)

Like this story?

Today's Most Popular Articles

Doctor Says...

Share this

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:




Article and Site Tools

» PermaLink to: Child died for lack of treatment, medical examiner says
   Need a shorter link? You can remove everything after the final /
» More news articles + news archive on Ava Worthington, Faith Healing, Followers of Christ (Oregon)
» More religion and cult news

Subscribe (RSS / Email) [What is RSS?]
» RSS News Feed - All Topics: Religion News Blog RSS Feed
» RSS News Feed - Single Topic: Ava Worthington, Faith Healing, Followers of Christ (Oregon)
» Headlines by Email: Daily Religion News Blog Headlines

More Article Tools
• Bookmark / Tag: Del.icio.us
• Bookmark / Tag: Furl
Save this article
Email this article
Print this article [Temporarily out of order]

More Information
Books about Ava Worthington
Relevant books (and other goodies)

About Religion News Blog
Religion News Blog (RNB), published by Apologetics Index, highlights news items and other resources on world religions, cults, religious sects, alternative religions and related issues. RNB's non-profit news clipping service is used by - among others - Christian apologists, countercult professionals, anticult organizations, cult experts, teachers, religion professionals, reporters and other researchers.