By Canadian Press

Second trial to start for Alberta couple in son’s meningitis death

Jun 3, 2019 | 2:06 AM

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A new trial is to begin for an Alberta couple who used homemade remedies instead of seeking medical help for their toddler who died of bacterial meningitis.

A jury in 2016 found David and Collet Stephan guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life for 19-month-old Ezekiel.

The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the ruling, but the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the convictions and ordered a second trial.

Court heard the parents treated their son with a tincture of garlic, onion and horseradish added to a smoothie. They believed he had croup, an upper airway infection, and that he seemed to improve at times.

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Witnesses testified that the toddler’s body was so stiff he couldn’t sit in a car seat and had to lie down while his mother drove him to a naturopathic clinic in Lethbridge, where she bought him an echinacea mixture.

The parents eventually called 911 but the boy died after he was transported to a hospital in Calgary.

David Stephan has been representing himself and his wife during court matters in the case over the past year. He has said they can’t afford to hire lawyers.

In January, a Calgary judge refused a request from the couple for $4 million to pay for past and future legal bills and to delay their retrial.

One expert worries that the continuing court case gives David Stephan a platform to debate natural and alternative medicine.

“I think it’s become even more important since 2016, because the problem of misinformation has intensified,” said Tim Caulfield, research director of the University of Alberta’s Health Law and Science Policy Group.

The Canadian Press