Authorities say a teenager from a faith-healing family died from an illness that could have been easily treated, just a few months after a toddler cousin of his died in a case that has led to criminal charges.
Tuesday's death of 16-year-old Neil Beagley, however, may not be a crime because Oregon law allows minors 14 and older to decide for themselves whether to accept medical treatment.
"All of the interviews from last night are that he did in fact refuse treatment," police Sgt. Lynne Benton said Wednesday. "Unless we can disprove that, charges probably won't be filed in this case."
An autopsy Wednesday showed Beagley died of heart failure caused by a urinary tract blockage.
He likely had a congenital condition that constricted his urinary tract where the bladder empties into the urethra, and the condition of his organs indicates he had multiple blockages during his life, said Dr. Clifford Nelson, deputy state medical examiner for Clackamas County.
"You just build up so much urea in your bloodstream that it begins to poison your organs, and the heart is particularly susceptible," Nelson said.
Nelson said a catheter would have saved the boy's life. If the condition had been dealt with earlier, a urologist could easily have removed the blockage and avoided the kidney damage that came with the repeated illnesses, Nelson said.
Benton said a board member of the Followers of Christ church contacted the authorities after Beagley died at his family's home. The teen had been sick about a week, and church members and his family had gathered to pray Sunday when his condition worsened, Benton said.
More crazy christians praying instead of getting responsible health care for their children. The parents should be sent to jail... or failing that, they should be force-cathetirized for several months.
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Have you seen the news item about the Ohio science teacher who was fired for branding students? Here's the text of the AP article:
By DOUG WHITEMAN, Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The school board of a small central Ohio community voted unanimously Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and using a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.
School board members voted 5-0 to fire Mount Vernon Middle School science teacher John Freshwater. Board attorney David Millstone said Freshwater is entitled to a hearing to challenge the dismissal.
Freshwater denies wrongdoing and will request such a hearing, the teacher's attorney, Kelly Hamilton, told the Mount Vernon News.
School board members met a day after the consulting firm H.R. On Call Inc. released its report on the teacher's case.
The report came a week after a family filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus against Freshwater and the school district, saying Freshwater burned a cross on a child's arm that remained for three or four weeks.
Freshwater's friend Dave Daubenmire defended him.
"With the exception of the cross-burning episode. ... I believe John Freshwater is teaching the values of the parents in the Mount Vernon school district," he told The Columbus Dispatch for a story published Friday.
Several students interviewed by investigators described Freshwater, who has been employed by the school district located 40 miles northeast of Columbus for 21 years, as a great guy and their favorite teacher.
But Lynda Weston, the district's director of teaching and learning, told investigators that she has dealt with complaints about Freshwater for much of her 11-year term at the district, the report said.
A former superintendent, Jeff Maley, said he tried to find another position for Freshwater but couldn't because he was certified only in science, the report said.
Freshwater used a science tool known as a high-frequency generator to burn images of a cross on students' arms in December, the report said. Freshwater told investigators he simply was trying to demonstrate the device on several students and described the images as an "X," not a cross. But pictures show a cross, the report said.
Other findings show that Freshwater taught that carbon dating was unreliable to argue against evolution.
oregon has some fucked up laws if a 14yr old can refuse medical treatment.
as for freshwater, ed at dispatches has been covering the story. he links to the school boards full report, and there is a link to a news article with a picture of the cross in the comment section.
freshwater link
boy, if i wasn't in a foul mood before...
uhhmm...that would be a picture of the cross that freshwater burned into one of the students arms, not just a picture of the cross.
my bad.
Personally, Freshwater should be in jail on assault charges.
Bawdy, agreed.
Hey, I found this on the Improbable Research website, the link is to a chart excerpted from an article about What Americans Believe, from the Wshington Post. Enjoy:
http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/table-belief-in-god-or-universal-spirit-by-religious-tradition.pdf
Hey Bob, I can't get this link to work. Can you try to code it up as a clickable link? That means putting a left carat (<) followed by (a href=") then the link in quotes [eliminate the parentheses] and end with a right carat (>). The put a word like --> link ...or something and follow it up with a left carat (<), a slash (/) the letter a and a right carat (>). I'm interested in reading this...
Will do! How about THIS.
It's a link to the Improbable Research Page, instead of the chart itself.
Thanks Bob... I found the Pew survey earlier this evening and posted a blog entry about it. Thanks for this, though.
thanks for turning me onto the site, bob. very interesting mix of info & 'tainment. enjoyable!
Glad you like it corey. csm, it's an interesting array of statistics, isn't it?
It is indeed, Bob. At a very high level I can only draw one of two conclusions. Either 1) the survey is flawed or not to be trusted, or 2) people are stupid.
Actually, it could be both!
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