By this point, the baby had sunken eyes
A horror story from the Sydney Morning Herald: a woman got advice from a “naturopath” on how to treat her infant’s eczema.
Over the next two months, police allege Ms Bodnar convinced the mother she could cure her baby’s eczema and made her feel guilty for using steroid creams for her son’s condition.
Ms Bodnar, a former nurse and midwife, convinced the mother it was best to use nothing to allow the baby’s skin to breathe.
She also advised her to go on a “raw only diet” to alkaline her milk to her breast-feeding baby, which would “help heal him faster by eliminating the toxins out of his body”, police allege.
Yeah that’s not a thing, it’s just word salad.
The mother stopped going to the dermatologist and ate nothing but raw fruits, vegetables and seeds.
The baby boy came down with a fever in May 2015, and Ms Bodnar told the mother to go on a water only diet, police allege.
“You’re not allowed to eat anything if you want to see him better,” she allegedly advised the mother.
Police say that the mother was feeling pressure and could not just drink water, so she ate only watermelon for three days.
She felt guilty as she thought she was poisoning her child but felt constantly tired.
When both mother and baby started losing weight, Ms Bodnar assured them it was normal and the baby was fat and needed to lose some weight.
The mother noticed the baby was getting lethargic.
Ms Bodnar allegedly made the mother feel guilty that she didn’t care about his health and was giving up too easily by wanting to give him solid food.
When the baby started vomiting, Ms Bodnar told the mother to stay on a water-only diet and “increased temperature means increased vitality”.
The mother took the baby to hospital after going to a doctor in May 2015.
By this point, the baby had sunken eyes, infected eczema, dehydration and severe failure to thrive.
The baby would have died in a few days had he not been taken to hospital, police said.
Police alleged that, as a result of Ms Bodnar’s treatment, the baby nearly died and might have long-term developmental problems.
All because a “naturopath” was playing at being a real doctor.
It’s enough to make you scream.
H/t Kausik
Ms Bodnar is definitely a criminal. That is frankly attempted murder.
My goodness.
I don’t think screaming will help.
My desire to punch something wouldn’t help either.
Earlier today I heard to words that chilled me to the bone.
“Naturopathic oncologist.”
This fucking shit has got to stop.
Giving any kind of medical advice, other than “See a doctor”, should be a crime. Seriously. ‘Recklessly endangering life and/or health’ or some such.
Setting up a business as a ‘naturopath’, ‘homeopath’ or similar in order to sell useless or dangerous ‘remedies’ should also be illegal.
Only properly, scientifically educated, fully qualified medical doctors should be allowed to treat infants for serious disorders such as eczema. Nurses who treat should only do so under strict guidelines.
All non-scientific ‘remedies’ and ‘supplements’ should be banned from pharmacies, and the manufacturers told not to supply any until they have been properly tested and found to work.
And that naturopath should be in prison.
Deeply disturbing: the amount of newage bullshit that ‘lower’ ranked health professionals believe in. Nurses, midwives, Physician Assistants, physiotherapists etc. etc. practice in a fog of acupuncture, dietary fads, Therapeutic ‘Touch’ (STILL!) and so on.
Something about being treated as servants by the more ‘official’ layers of the health industry seems to provoke a resentful gullibility around methods and practices that can be picked up on the odd weekend. And many officially endorsed Continuing Education courses indoctrinate idiocy just as bad as this.