NATION : Father Rues Not Seeking Doctor
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BOSTON — A Christian Scientist on trial for his son’s death testified that he now wishes he had sought medical help for the ailing 2 1/2-year-old.
David and Ginger Twitchell are accused of recklessly causing the boy’s death because they treated him with prayer, instead of conventional medicine. Robyn died from a bowel obstruction in April, 1986.
“If medical science could have saved my son, I wish I had turned to it,” Twitchell said Monday during his trial for manslaughter.
Twitchell said he was influenced by the previous weeks’ testimony.
The parents have said they rely on spiritual healing to cure physical ailments according to Christian Science principles.
Defense attorneys have sought to show that Robyn’s symptoms resembled the flu. An autopsy showed the boy had a birth defect that caused the obstruction.
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