Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A German court has ruled that an alternative therapist has to pay GBP 25,685 to the son of a cancer sufferer who died after being treated with snake venom.
The Higher Regional Court in Munich (OLG) ruled that self-proclaimed healer Isolde L., 54, has to pay EUR 30,000 (GBP 25,685) to the motherless child after she treated cancer patient Sandra Spiering with snake venom and promised her results.
The OLG Munich announced the decision on 25th March.
Maik Spiering, 34, husband of deceased Sandra Spiering and father of the child, originally sued the alternative healer for EUR 170,000 (GBP 145,548) on behalf of his five-year-old son.
Sandra Spiering, from the town of Landshut in the German state of Bavaria, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in January 2015 while she was pregnant and died 10 months later in October 2015.
According to her widowed partner Maik, the 54-year-old healer treated his wife ‘horvi preparations’ based on enzymatic products which contained South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) venom and promised she would recover if she attended her sessions.
After delivering her son early in order to start treatment sooner, the young mother stopped her radiotherapy and never even started chemotherapy, according to local media.
She died in October 2015, 10 months after doctors first detected the cancer.
Maik said: “This woman destroyed our family.”
The family’s lawyer Marcel Vachek said that Isolde L. had a massive impact on the victim. Nevertheless, the court dropped negligent homicide charges.
However, Maik sued the healer on behalf of his son under civil law and asked for compensation for their pain and suffering.
The Higher Regional Court in Munich agreed with Maik and found that Isolde L. had no training in cancer treatment.
Based on investigation evidence, the court stated: “The defendant did not actively advise her patient to discontinue radiation therapy, but she did not oppose her decision, which would have been her job as a naturopath.
“This failure of the defendant, which continued for weeks, was irresponsible and absolutely incomprehensible for a responsible alternative practitioner.”
An unnamed oncologist said: “If Sandra had not broken off regular medical treatments, she would have beaten 70 percent of the cancer.”
The court did not allow appeals against the sentence.
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