Every once in a while, I see a headline in the news that is premised along the lines of: 鈥�(This person) could have been saved, if only鈥︹�� or something to that effect. I immediately know what that headline alludes to, without having to even read the first paragraph of the story anymore.
I immediately tell myself, 鈥淣o, Sam. Don鈥檛 read it. You鈥檙e going to get angry. You鈥檙e going to want to preach about how ludicrous it is that there are still people out there who distrust modern medicine so much they鈥檙e willing to put their beliefs before the safety and wellbeing of their own kin.鈥澛�
Anyway, here I am, writing about Tamara Lovett of Calgary, and the fact that her now deceased son is yet another casualty of the dynamic of monumental ignorance and stupidity that is the distrust of modern medicine.
Lovett鈥檚 son died of something called 鈥渙verwhelming sepsis,鈥� and she has been charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence. If it struck you that those charges are very similar to the charges David and Collet Stephan faced after they refused to treat their son with antibiotics and fed him garlic smoothies when he contracted bacterial meningitis, you are an astute person and I salute you.聽
That鈥檚 the main commonality between Lovett and the Stephans, and the root of these tragedies: this absurd insistence some people have鈥攖hese train wrecks who conceit themselves to be caring parents鈥� that what they read for an hour or two on some naturopathic blogs talking about 鈥渘atural cures鈥� is superior to modern medicine. Friendly reminder: It鈥檚 not!
In 2013, Lovett decided that dandelion tea and oil of oregano were the necessary panacea to her son Ryan鈥檚 10-day case of strep throat. Her herbal elixirs were so helpful in protecting her son鈥檚 health that the group A streptococcus bacteria in his lungs spread through several other major organs, causing multiple organ failure. By the time he passed away, not only did he have strep throat, he ended up with meningitis, an infected heart and an immune system that was so overwhelmed, it shut down.
This wasn鈥檛 cancer, this wasn鈥檛 some new virus that resists conventional treatment. This was conventional strep throat. I鈥檝e had strep throat as a teenager鈥攊t kept me out of school for a few days. You know what helped? Penicillin. Probably because I belong to the vast majority of the world鈥檚 population that has no averse reaction whatsoever to conventional antibiotics. Antibiotics that could have saved the life of Ryan Lovett.聽
What are the risks associated with antibiotics, anyway? Clearly, if people are feeding their kids concoctions that sound like items you鈥檇 use to recover your character鈥檚 health-points in Dungeons and Dragons instead of antibiotics like penicillin, the most commonly used drug to treat strep throat, antibiotics must do some scary things to the body.
Except, in all but the rarest of cases, they don鈥檛. According to the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, about 10 per cent of people are allergic to antibiotics. The majority of allergic reactions to antibiotics include rashes and swelling. Does that sound like a good reason to deny a dying child the one thing that is most likely to reverse the spread of a bacteria that鈥檚 in the process of shutting down their immune system and vital organs? Of course not.
I reiterate this message so much, not out of any hope of directly influencing those whose minds and hearts are set against modern medicine, but to sway those who haven鈥檛 completely thrown reason to the wind yet. Those who are skeptical and on the fence, and those who actually know people who need to be disabused of the ridiculous notion that oil of oregano and herbal smoothies are a suitable substitute for proven medicine that has been effective with minimal harm, administered by people who know what the hell they鈥檙e doing, for hundreds of years.聽
As for Lovett, who refused, even in response to the insistence of friend, to take her ailing son to a hospital until he was literally dying in front of her, she deserves to be held 100 per cent accountable for this very tragedy. I hope she ends up behind bars.聽
