charges or no charges?

[strmrdr]

Warning its sad :{

http://www.therachelbundystory.com/

 

[isaku5]

Date: 6/18/2006 1:32:50 PM
Author:strmrdr
Warning its sad :{

http://www.therachelbundystory.com/

Even though you had the warning that the article was sad, I had to read it.

I am appalled at the lack of sensitivity on the part of the lawyers during this very upsetting time.

As a mother and grandmother, my sympathies lie solely with the parents. Bacterial meningitis is an insidious disease which is impossible to diagnose without a spinal tap and making the decision to take your child to emerg with flu-like symptoms and demanding a tap would use up valuable time which Rachel didn''t have.

To press criminal charges against her mother is absurd; she will be blaming herself forever anyway.

Very sad indeed. I hope parents everywhere will step up to the plate to defend an innocent mom.

 

[movie zombie]

no charges.

movie zombie

 

[poptart]

Very sad indeed. I don''t even understand how they could think to try and charge her with negligent homicide! She tried to get her daughter the help she thought was needed and now she is going to be punished for it? Absurd. I agree that she will forever blame herself anyway, even though it wasn''t her fault. Meningitis is such a tricky illness to identify, and I remember hearing once that sometimes doctors have trouble making distinctions because it can mimic the flu and other ailments. That poor family, it''s awful that they can''t just be left alone.

 

[Rank Amateur]

It may be that a blind belief in homeopathy (by the parents) killed her. The facts are still few and far between.

 

[tanuki]

The question of whether or not she was vaccinated against the two most common causes of fatal meningitis in this age group was not answered

A lot of people are discouraged by chiropractors from getting their children vaccinated.

Not that I think the parents should be prosecuted, but the website seems to be tap dancing around whether she was immunized or not.

While vaccination doesn''t prevent ALL forms of meningitis - would vaccinating the child have prevented the type that killed her? The website doesn''t say.
I''d be willing to bet that if this child had been immunized she''d be alive today.

Personally, I think the person who should be held accountable would be the chiropractor.

A stiff neck in a child that age that lasts for two weeks needs further investigation.
It can be a presentation of leukemia, discitis, and spinal cord tumors (and let''s not forget child abuse).

The parents did consult someone who set themselves in a position of authority. They got bad advice.
A regular MD would be held accountable. It''s time the chiropractors had to do the same.

 

[strmrdr]

According to this it was : streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis

http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view2/1,4382,640187634,00.html?textfield=negligent+homicide


According to this a vacine isnt normaly given for it:
"The vaccine against Streptococcal pneumoniae (pneumococcal vaccine) is not effective in persons under age 2 years but is recommended for all persons over age 65 and younger persons with certain medical problems. New pneumococcal vaccines are under development."

http://www.dhpe.org/infect/Bacmeningitis.html

 

[Rank Amateur]

Two of the websites I was reading say that the State is looking into the parent's use of alternative medicine. The quote from the Father said something to the effect that "it was just her time to go".

I'm not sure what to make of it but I'd like to think that the gov't wouldn't bring charges for no reason at all.

 

[tanuki]

The incidence of childhood meningitis from Strep pneumo has been tremendously reduced since the introduction within the past 7 years of a vaccine with the brand name Prevnar.

We''ve been giving Prevnar routinely in our practice since before my daughter was born and she just turned 5. She got it when she was 2 months old.

It is 97% effective and targets 7 serotypes of the bacteria which are commonly a source of invasive pneumococcal disease in kids. The vaccine has relatively little in the way of side effects and doesn''t contain thimersol. The full course is a series of 4 shots.

Did it ever say on the website that she was ever vaccinated?

While it IS possible that she was infected with a serotype not included in the vaccine or that she would have been one if the 3% who get the shot series but don''t become immune for some reason I''ll bet those parents would be even more upset if they knew there was a 97% chance that her death was preventable just by going down to the health department and getting the usual shots. Particularly if they were discouraged by someone from immunizing their child.

 

[Rank Amateur]

I didn''t see if she was vaccinated or not, but I did see that she was taken to a chiropractor. That in and of itself is enough to give the parents the hairy eyeball. Hopefully it wasn''t one of these clowns who do adjustments instead of vaccinations.

I''m guessing that the more we learn about this story the sadder it''s going to get.

 

[pinkflamingo]

gosh, I had scarlet fever with a stiff neck on my 10th birthday. my mom rushed me to the hospital in an ambulance because i couldnt walk. it happened overnight. i had had a sore throat 2 weeks earlier, had a strep test but it was negative. i got over the sore throat and was much better, went to school, etc. that morning, i couldnt move, it was so scary.
these things happen. i think taking your child to a chiropractor over a stiff neck is kind of sketch. if she was never vaccinated and they took her to a chiropractor instead of a doctor, yes, i can see why they are looking into her death. very sad.