<r>I've been following this because it is in my state:<br/>
<br/>
<COLOR color="Navy"><s></s><B><s></s> Girl dies of treatable diabetes after parents pick prayer over medicine<e></e></B><br/>
AP, March 27, 2008<br/>
<br/>
WESTON, Wis. - Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl’s death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.<br/>
<br/>
An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday from diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.<br/>
<br/>
She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.<br/>
The girl’s mother, Leilani Neumann, said the family believes in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but she said they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.<br/>
<br/>
She insisted her youngest child, a wiry girl known to wear her straight brown hair in a ponytail, was in good health until recently.<br/>
"We just noticed a tiredness within the past two weeks," she said Wednesday. "And then just the day before and that day (she died), it suddenly just went to a more serious situation. We stayed fast in prayer then. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that to us, it looked like she was recovering."<br/>
<br/>
Her daughter — who hadn’t seen a doctor since she got some shots as a 3-year-old, according to Vergin — had no fever and there was warmth in her body, she said.<br/>
<br/>
The girl’s father, Dale Neumann, a former police officer, said he started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter’s body.<br/>
<br/>
Family members elsewhere called authorities to seek help for the girl.<br/>
<br/>
"My sister-in-law, she’s very religious, she believes in faith instead of doctors ...," the girl’s aunt told a sheriff’s dispatcher Sunday afternoon in a call from California. "And she called my mother-in-law today ... and she explained to us that she believes her daughter’s in a coma now and she’s relying on faith."<br/>
<br/>
The dispatcher got more information from the caller and asked if an ambulance should be sent.<br/>
<br/>
"Please," the woman replied. "I mean, she’s refusing. She’s going to fight it. ... We’ve been trying to get her to take her to the hospital for a week, a few days now."<br/>
<br/>
The aunt called back with more information on the family’s location, emergency logs show. Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and immediately called for an ambulance that took her to a hospital.<br/>
But less than an hour after authorities reached the home, Madeline — a bright student who left public school for home schooling this semester — was declared dead<br/>
<br/>
...<br/>
<br/>
<B><s></s>Prayer exemption in Wisconsin state law<e></e></B><br/>
<br/>
WESTON -- Many questions have been raised about whether the Madeline Neumann's parents will be blamed for their daughter's death.<br/>
<br/>
The District Attorney's office has yet to receive the full report, but one legal expert says this is a complicated issue. <br/>
<br/>
A UW Madison scholar has recently written a book dealing specifically with prayer as it relates to the law. <br/>
<br/>
Shawn Peters says it's very unlikely that Neumann's parents would be charged with murder, but manslaughter, neglect, and abuse are still on the table.<br/>
<br/>
But he says one state statute makes it very difficult to decide what should be done legally. That's because it contains an exemption referred to as "the treatment through prayer".<br/>
<br/>
Peters says, "It becomes far more complicated when you deal with the interests of children, and literally life or death issues, that's when statutes like this are sort of called into question."<br/>
<e></e></COLOR><COLOR color="Navy"><s></s><br/>
<e></e></COLOR><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s><FONT font="Arial"></s><br/>
<e></e></FONT></r>
<br/>
<COLOR color="Navy"><s></s><B><s></s> Girl dies of treatable diabetes after parents pick prayer over medicine<e></e></B><br/>
AP, March 27, 2008<br/>
<br/>
WESTON, Wis. - Police are investigating an 11-year-old girl’s death from an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to pray for her rather than take her to a doctor.<br/>
<br/>
An autopsy showed Madeline Neumann died Sunday from diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that left too little insulin in her body, Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin said.<br/>
<br/>
She had probably been ill for about a month, suffering symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness, the chief said Wednesday, noting that he expects to complete the investigation by Friday and forward the results to the district attorney.<br/>
The girl’s mother, Leilani Neumann, said the family believes in the Bible and that healing comes from God, but she said they do not belong to an organized religion or faith, are not fanatics and have nothing against doctors.<br/>
<br/>
She insisted her youngest child, a wiry girl known to wear her straight brown hair in a ponytail, was in good health until recently.<br/>
"We just noticed a tiredness within the past two weeks," she said Wednesday. "And then just the day before and that day (she died), it suddenly just went to a more serious situation. We stayed fast in prayer then. We believed that she would recover. We saw signs that to us, it looked like she was recovering."<br/>
<br/>
Her daughter — who hadn’t seen a doctor since she got some shots as a 3-year-old, according to Vergin — had no fever and there was warmth in her body, she said.<br/>
<br/>
The girl’s father, Dale Neumann, a former police officer, said he started CPR "as soon as the breath of life left" his daughter’s body.<br/>
<br/>
Family members elsewhere called authorities to seek help for the girl.<br/>
<br/>
"My sister-in-law, she’s very religious, she believes in faith instead of doctors ...," the girl’s aunt told a sheriff’s dispatcher Sunday afternoon in a call from California. "And she called my mother-in-law today ... and she explained to us that she believes her daughter’s in a coma now and she’s relying on faith."<br/>
<br/>
The dispatcher got more information from the caller and asked if an ambulance should be sent.<br/>
<br/>
"Please," the woman replied. "I mean, she’s refusing. She’s going to fight it. ... We’ve been trying to get her to take her to the hospital for a week, a few days now."<br/>
<br/>
The aunt called back with more information on the family’s location, emergency logs show. Police and paramedics arrived within minutes and immediately called for an ambulance that took her to a hospital.<br/>
But less than an hour after authorities reached the home, Madeline — a bright student who left public school for home schooling this semester — was declared dead<br/>
<br/>
...<br/>
<br/>
<B><s></s>Prayer exemption in Wisconsin state law<e></e></B><br/>
<br/>
WESTON -- Many questions have been raised about whether the Madeline Neumann's parents will be blamed for their daughter's death.<br/>
<br/>
The District Attorney's office has yet to receive the full report, but one legal expert says this is a complicated issue. <br/>
<br/>
A UW Madison scholar has recently written a book dealing specifically with prayer as it relates to the law. <br/>
<br/>
Shawn Peters says it's very unlikely that Neumann's parents would be charged with murder, but manslaughter, neglect, and abuse are still on the table.<br/>
<br/>
But he says one state statute makes it very difficult to decide what should be done legally. That's because it contains an exemption referred to as "the treatment through prayer".<br/>
<br/>
Peters says, "It becomes far more complicated when you deal with the interests of children, and literally life or death issues, that's when statutes like this are sort of called into question."<br/>
<e></e></COLOR><COLOR color="Navy"><s></s><br/>
<e></e></COLOR><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s><FONT font="Arial"></s><br/>
<e></e></FONT></r>
