title: Medical neglect death due to acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: an autopsy case report.
abstract: We report the case of 2-year-old girl who died of precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. She had no remarkable medical history. She was transferred to a hospital because of respiratory distress and died 4 hours after arrival. Two weeks before death, she had a fever of 39 degrees C, which subsided after the administration of a naturopathic herbal remedy. She developed jaundice 1 week before death, and her condition worsened on the day of death. Laboratory test results on admission showed a markedly elevated white blood cell count. Accordingly, the cause of death was suspected to be acute leukaemia. Forensic autopsy revealed the cause of death to be precursor B-cell ALL. With advancements in medical technology, the 5-year survival rate of children with ALL is nearly 90%. However, in this case, the deceased's parents preferred complementary and alternative medicine (i.e., naturopathy) to evidence-based medicine and had not taken her to a hospital for a medical check-up or immunisation since she was an infant. Thus, if she had received routine medical care, she would have a more than 60% chance of being alive 5 years after diagnosis. Therefore, we conclude that the parents should be accused of medical neglect regardless of their motives.
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Usumoto
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sameshima
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D001344:Autopsy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D029001:Herbal Medicine; D006801:Humans; D007565:Jaundice / Q000209:etiology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy