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Two - year - old Kent Schaible died of bacterial pneumonia in 2009 .
His parent , Herbert and Catherine Schaible of Philadelphia , chose not to take Kent to a Doctor of the Church , bank instead onfaith healing , harmonize to thePhiladelphia Daily News .
Faith healing is a controversial treatment, especially when children are involved.
" We tried to fight the Old Nick , but , in the close , the devil won , " Herbert Schaible said at the time .
When they seem before a judge in 2011 , the Schaibles promise they would never again annul medical tending for their continue tyke , despite the dogma of their fundamentalist church , the First Century Gospel Church . [ 8 Ways Religion Impacts Your Life ]
But last Thursday ( April 18 ) , their 7 - calendar month - old Logos Brandon died after put up severe diarrhea . The mates prayed over their boy until he passed away .
What is religious belief healing ?
religion healing , the opinion that disease and harm can be heal through the intervention of a high power , is as old as human civilization , fit in to the American Cancer Society ( ACS ) .
A number of religious organizations — include Christian Scientists , the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints ( the Mormon Church ) and theCatholic Church — pick out some degree of religion healing or inspired intervention in health matters .
However , only the most extreme , fundamentalist religious sect of these church advise their congregation to debar all professional medical attending .
Does faith healing study ?
There have been no scientific written report that verify the efficaciousness of religious belief healing . In fact , medical enquiry has found that religion healing has a dismal racetrack record .
A 1998 study from the journal Pediatrics found that of 172 children who died after their parent reject aesculapian care , 140 of the deaths were from condition for which survival rates with medical care would have go past 90 percent .
The children ’s death resulted from treatable diseases , such as pneumonia , meningitis and insulin - dependentdiabetes . In one dramatic pillowcase , a 2 - yr - old girl gag to death on a banana while her parent and other adults prayed for her recovery .
Nonetheless , in some pillow slip , the ACS says , feeling in a cure can triggera placebo outcome , in which a person believes a discussion will work even though there ’s no evidence that it will . This feeling can help a patient feel easily and grapple with their consideration more effectively .
religion healing and the law
Faith healing is subject to a turn of State Department laws and exemptions , many of which screen parents from criminal prosecution even when their kid die of an easy treated illness .
According to a 2011 theme in theCanadian Medical Association Journal(CMAJ ) , 19 U.S. state still earmark religious exemptions for law-breaking against minor , include child disregard , manslaughter and murder .
" Children who have died in these cases suffer seizure , vomiting , " Dr. Seth Asser , a Rhode Island pediatrician , tell apart the CMAJ . " Their death are torturesome , irksome and extremely painful . "
Asser and Rita Swan , founder of Children ’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty ( shaver ) , argue that judges and legislators often neglect to recognize the risk inherent in faith healing , specially when child are involved , harmonize to the CMAJ account .
A judicial reprimand
The Schaibles once again find themselves in court , where Judge Benjamin Lerner issued a acerbic rebuke to the couple .
" I am sorry for your loss . deep sorry , " Lerner told the Schaibles . " But in all honesty , I am more sad for the fact that this barren little tike will not be able to arise up to be what he wanted to be . "
Because the couple " knowingly , intentionally , hypocritically and callously violated " the most vital term of the probation they received after the death of their Logos Kent , they now face up up to 10 twelvemonth in prison .
Their seven remain children have been slay from their dwelling by the Philadelphia Department of Human Services .
