We met the case two years ago, and public opinion shuddered at the event: a seven-year-old Italian boy died of complications from an otitis, after his parents avoided the use of antibiotics and tried to cure him with homeopathy .
Today we have known that Italian justice has sentenced the child's parents to three months in jail. The trial of the homeopathic doctor who recommended the treatment, Massimiliano Mecozzi, will be held in September.
It could have been cured with antibiotics
Otitis is a very common infection among the child population, and although most are of viral origin and end up healing spontaneously after a few days, on other occasions they may have a bacterial origin that makes antibiotic treatment necessary.
Francesco's parents, who have two more children, strongly believed in the healing power of homeopathy, so they decided to stop giving their son antibiotics when he turned three. At that time, the homeopathic doctor, Massimiliano Mecozzi, became the reference professional for the family, and it was he who recommended certain homeopathic products to parents to "cure" the various conditions suffered by their children.
In Babies and more Homeopathy and other pseudotherapies will be prohibited in public and private health centersSo when Francesco became ill with an otitis, Mecozzi recommended homeopathy to his parents - as he had done so many times - despite the fact that the child was getting worse over the next 15 days.
And it is that on that occasion, the otitis suffered by Francesco required the urgent administration of antibiotics, and an infection that could have been cured in a few days with proper treatment, ended up causing death by encephalitis.The doctors who treated the child reported the case to the prosecution, and the Official Medical Association of Pesaro (Italy), decided to suspend Mecozzi for six months, considering him guilty for not guaranteeing the child's cure by providing antibiotics, and for not correctly informing the parents of What was happening.
The doctor's lawyer affirms that his client acted with the conviction of having done well, and even assures that in the future he will continue to exercise with the same method.
Parents sentenced to three months in jail
In addition to the doctor's suspension and his next trial in September, Justice also decided investigate the parents of the small Francess for involuntary manslaughter, and now we have known that they have been sentenced to three months in jail.
The parents have announced that they will appeal the sentence, and point to Mecozzi as the maximum responsible for the death of the child. But the truth is that this case is just another unfortunate event where lack of confidence in medicine, non-vaccination, or homeopathy end the life of innocent children.
Action plan against pseudosciences
In our country, two years ago the Medical Association of Madrid decided that acupuncture, homeopathy and naturopathic medicine would no longer have their own group within the College, and the option of offering courses and conferences would be withdrawn, marking a clear border between the knowledge with scientific evidence and the one without it.
In Babies and more A father reports that a pediatrician has prescribed homeopathy pills to his sonIn addition, six months ago we met the new "Health Protection Plan against Pseudotherapies" launched by the Government, which is intended to both homeopathy and other pseudotherapies (including homeopathy, reiki, acupuncture , the flowers of Back and a hundred more) remain prohibited in health centers in Spain, both public and private.
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