A New Mexico teenage boy had passed away from untreated cancer last Thursday and authorities are prosecuting his grieving parents.
Maria Urias-Astorga and Ramiro Miranda-Quinonez were charged with abuse of a child resulting in death for not seeking appropriate medical help for the 14-year-old boy until it was too late.
The parents told investigators their son’s condition worsened a few weeks ago as he started vomiting and refusing to eat but doctors believe the tumor was developing for at least a year.
The couple said that they didn’t take the boy to the hospital because they had no Medicaid and preferred herbal treatment.
“It was just a tragedy case to where he really needed medical care that should have taken place long before,” Police Captain Anthony Tapia said.
“The child had a large cancerous tumor encompassing the whole left side of his body,” Tapia said adding that when admitted to the Santa Fe hospital, doctors spotted severe stretch marks that they first thought were a result of abuse.
But further examination revealed that the teen suffered rapid weight loss that left the marks on his body: “We need to understand why medical attention was not rendered to this child,” Tapia told reporters.
The boy had never seen a doctor for two years, authorities said. According to doctors, he would have survived the illness had he received early treatment.
