A recent Associated Press article picked up by the international media reports how a sick 11-year-old girl died after her parents opted to pray for her recovery rather than take her to the hospital. The child had an undiagnosed, treatable form of diabetes, and the article implied that had she been rushed to emergency, she would have been fine. Meanwhile, her parents insist that since God is the healer, they did the right thing.
I’m certainly not qualified to say whether or not prayer heals or whether the parents acted irresponsibly, and that’s not the point, anyway. The point is that the media made a big fuss about one child who died because her parents opted not to go to the doctor — but there was no mention of the hundreds of thousands of children who die because their parents did seek medical help.
You’ve seen the stats in previous posts here. Within hospitals, as many as 98,000 patients each year die from preventable medical errors — with most of those errors occurring in emergency departments, intensive care units, and operating rooms — precisely the units where a very sick child would end up. The fatal errors most frequently cited include faulty diagnosis, flawed delivery of treatment, equipment failure, delays in delivering treatment, inadequate follow-up, and mistakes in the dose or delivery of a drug.
Then, of course, there are pharmaceutical drugs, which cause an overwhelming number of deaths and emergencies — even when administered correctly. Almost seven percent of all hospitalized patients in the US — or 770,000 patients–have serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) within hospitals each year. Over a hundred thousand hospitalized patients die annually from drug reactions, and an additional 1.5 million need hospitalization after suffering an adverse drug reaction outside the hospital. In fact, ADRs comprise the fourth leading cause of death in the US, and children aren’t exempt, with 2.09% of all pediatric hospitalizations resulting from reactions to pharmaceuticals. This means that 79,000 children annually get rushed to hospitals because of adverse drug reactions. And, the problem continues to get worse. A British study found that the number of ADRs shot up 155% in the 10 years from 1996 to 2006.
And add to these numbers the fact that one out of every 20 patients in the US gets a hospital-induced infection each year, which works out to over six-million patients annually. But it gets worse. Studies now show that over 70 percent of the bacteria that cause hospital-induced infections have become resistant to treatment with drugs, meaning that these infections will cause escalating emergencies and fatalities in coming years.
The bottom line is that before we join the worldwide press in demonizing the little girl’s parents as foolish religious fanatics for not rushing her to a hospital, let’s consider — for all of the reasons cited above — that it’s not so illogical for parents to be concerned about rushing an ill child to the hospital. Medical treatments certainly are an option when faced with emergencies, but given the realities of hospitalization safety rates, a parent would be imprudent to disregard possible complications associated with any hospital visit.
By the way, although the results are not conclusive, there have definitely been some studies that indicate that healing prayer made indeed work. In fact, even if you do opt for medical care, it just might be worth a little prayer asking the gods to protect your child from the menace of the medical demons.
:hc
As a Christian Homeopath myself I sometimes pray for people rather than give medicine.
This happens if the patient asks me to and/or if I discern a spiritual problem(because some problems are indeed spiritual). Jesus did say: “”you shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover”” The result depends on whether one believes or not. Those who say they can’t believe because it does not make sense obviously won’t see healing take place. One can believe in oneself and that is very limited or believe in a God who heals. It is up to God how He heals. Sometimes He does it through natural means. The bulk of the medical profession cannot even believe in the fact that herbs cure, yet in most hospitals you will find Ipeca syrup, Senega laxatives, Arnica tincture and many others that are hidden to the public less they should believe.There is an agenda out there to dissuade the public from going to Natural Therapists.Prince Charles once said:””The public is voting with their feet”” So if all those who are voting with their feet are not getting results why do they still do it. Why don’t they come back to the medical model.I am 30 years older then when I started on Homeopathy,herbal medicine, diet etc yet I am healthier now than 30 years ago. Does not that defy medical thinking? I should be sicker since they equate age with sickness. If that was so how would they like to explain why children get leukaemia, eczema, asthma etc. What has sickness got to do with age? Some very old people happen to die in their sleep, peacefully as medical reports often comment. On the other hand for those who do not believe in God and would like to say ‘it’s all in the mind’ then I have a very good mind, thank you. That means perhaps they should be asking for advice rather than attacking what they can’t understand. By the way, I understand that the doctor of the late John Rockefeller snr, founder of the Rockerfeller Institute was a Homeopath. Can someone please comment on that, thank you.
Thank you for your infor. I do blieve in the effectivness of prayer – Iur God is a mighty God and He loves us and wants to heal us.
We just need to trust Him and believe ,and also hear from Him about proper med care and medication. His guidance in this is very important. I am battling with cancer for 3 years, and only through His grace and guidance I choose proper vitamins and alternative treatments. My church is constanly prying for me and I would like to ask you to pry for me also! May God bless you and annoint you for powerful ministry to people. Marina
I agree with Marina. Healing
I agree with Marina. Healing comes from our Creator God (Ex. 15:26), who gave us instructions what we should and should not eat (Lev. 3:17; 7:22-25; & chp 11, & Deut. chp 14). He gave us moral laws & health laws to live by, which, when broken (1 John 3:4), causes inevitible penalties (Lev. 26:16, 25; Deut. 28:15-68; Mat. 5:19; Rom. 1:25-2:3; James 2:1:15; 2:8-12). Whether we choose to rely on the medical society, or on the Eternal God is a choice we all have to make. I do not condemn the medical system, they have their place in our society; but we have to be careful not to rely on the modern-day witchcraft which comes from a multi $BILLION$ Big-Pharma industry who’s driving force is SOLELY greed. That system abhors God’s health laws because that it does not fill their blood-stained bank accounts.
God Bless, Cornie Banman.
you’re an idiot they should have taken this child to the hospital no if ands about it the bottom line is that sheeeeeeeeeeeeee would have lived put aside your quotes about how many kids have died when taken to the hospital did you know one I bet not THINK ABOUT HOW THIS CHILD SUFFERED FOR NO REASON
Actually, T Kimbrough, you lose your bet. I can indeed name one, my youngest brother, who suffered a massive brain hemorrhage as a result of the triple shots the medical community forced on him as an infant. And I call tell you in graphic detail how heeeeeeee suffered for 20 years before he finally died. AND I THINK FREQUENTLY ABOUT HOW HE SUFFERED FOR NO REASON.
PS: I edited out your obscenities since we don’t allow the use of that kind of language on this site.