The defence is to begin arguing its case today at the trial of a woman who treated her son with dandelion tea and oil of oregano before he died of a strep infection.<\/p>\n
Tamara Lovett’s trial is entering its second week in a Calgary courtroom. She is charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life and with criminal negligence causing death.<\/p>\n
Her seven-year-old son, Ryan Alexander Lovett, died in March 2013 after getting a strep infection that kept him bedridden for 10 days.<\/p>\n
The trial has heard the boy was treated with holistic medicine rather than life-saving antibiotics. He died from massive organ failure.<\/p>\n
Lovett, 47, told police officers that she thought Ryan was suffering from the cold or flu but he seemed to be getting better.<\/p>\n
Just a couple of days before he died, he was complaining of pain in his leg, his eyes became jaundiced and he couldn’t stand on his own, she said during a police interview.<\/p>\n
She said she called 911 after he began convulsing and collapsed.<\/p>\n
Alberta’s acting chief medical examiner testified the boy\u2019s body was full of group A streptococcus, which caused most of his major organs to deteriorate.<\/p>\n
“Every organ in the body was starting to fail,” Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim testified last week.<\/p>\n
“The major organs all showed signs of an infection of the blood \u2026 and, as a result of this infection, the organs that normally produce the immune response of the body appeared exhausted from having to counter an infection.”<\/p>\n
Ryan’s birth was never registered and he didn’t have an Alberta Health card. His mother said he was born with the assistance of a midwife and she had taken him to a naturopathic clinic for his medical needs.<\/p>\n
Lovett’s lawyer, Alain Hepner, has said he will call two or three days worth of evidence.<\/p>\n
He hasn’t ruled out calling Lovett to testify.<\/p>\n
By:\u00a0BILL GRAVELAND<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0GlobeandMail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"