Asser S M, Swan R
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, California, USA.
Pediatrics. 1998 Apr;101(4 Pt 1):625-9. doi: 10.1542/peds.101.4.625.
To evaluate deaths of children from families in which faith healing was practiced in lieu of medical care and to determine if such deaths were preventable.
Cases of child fatality in faith-healing sects were reviewed. Probability of survival for each was then estimated based on expected survival rates for children with similar disorders who receive medical care.
One hundred seventy-two children who died between 1975 and 1995 and were identified by referral or record search. Criteria for inclusion were evidence that parents withheld medical care because of reliance on religious rituals and documentation sufficient to determine the cause of death.
One hundred forty fatalities were from conditions for which survival rates with medical care would have exceeded 90%. Eighteen more had expected survival rates of >50%. All but 3 of the remainder would likely have had some benefit from clinical help.
When faith healing is used to the exclusion of medical treatment, the number of preventable child fatalities and the associated suffering are substantial and warrant public concern. Existing laws may be inadequate to protect children from this form of medical neglect.
评估那些采用信仰疗法而非医疗护理的家庭中儿童的死亡情况，并确定此类死亡是否可预防。
对信仰治疗教派中儿童死亡病例进行回顾。然后根据接受医疗护理的患有类似疾病儿童的预期存活率，估算每个病例的存活概率。
1975年至1995年间死亡的172名儿童，通过转诊或记录搜索确定。纳入标准是有证据表明父母因依赖宗教仪式而拒绝医疗护理，且有足够文件确定死因。
140例死亡是由接受医疗护理时存活率会超过90%的疾病导致。另有18例预期存活率>50%。其余病例中除3例之外，所有病例可能都会从临床帮助中获得一定益处。
当信仰疗法被用于排斥医疗治疗时，可预防的儿童死亡数量以及相关痛苦是巨大的，值得公众关注。现行法律可能不足以保护儿童免受这种形式的医疗忽视。
