With road accidents approaching rates of a national calamity, and the announcement that this week, the 4,000^th soldier has tragically been killed in the senseless slaughter in Iraq, the reported deaths of two young girls went almost unnoticed.  And what “kills” me is that they were both so senseless and avoidable.  That’s what makes these stories so tragic and totally unnecessary. 

In Weston Wisconsin, 11 year old Madeline Neumann died this past Sunday.  The poor, innocent girl suffered from diabetes.  Thousands of young girls who have diabetes just like Madeline, in America, a country which boasts the highest level of medical care, lead normal lives.  They take regular injections or pills to redress the insulin imbalance in their frail bodies.  But their parents monitor their health and protect them from the sinister challenge of their disease.

But according to press accounts, Madeline wasn’t as fortunate as her diabetes co-sufferers.  While she was wasting away, dying before their very eyes, her parents sat at her bedside, or where ever they chose to sit, and prayed for their frail daughter, getting sicker and weaker by the day, to get better.   But that never happened.

According to the Everest Metro Police Chief Dan Vergin, the direct cause of Madeline’s death was diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment which although is eminently treatable, leaves the body too little insulin to survive.  Madeline had been sick for about a month, suffering from nausea, vomiting, extreme thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

Leilani Neumann, Madeline’s mother was quoted as saying that the family doesn’t belong to an organized religion or faith.  “We just believe in the Bible, that’s all, this is our faith.”  The girl’s father added, “We believe in the word of God and live according to its precepts.”  Their belief in the Bible, according to an Associated Press report, means that healing comes from God. 

What disturbed me was the question about leaving the family’s 3 remaining children at home, where this tragedy could possibly repeat itself.  One reporter noted that on the surface there is no reason to remove the children, they didn’t appear to be in any danger, because there were no signs of abuse.

One wonders, if instead of praying, had her parents rushed their late daughter to the hospital emergency room, Madeline would in all probability still be alive.  But I guess by someone’s standard, that’s not considered abuse behavior.   

Gets you wondering, doesn’t it!

Another tragic headline this week, “High School Cheerleader Dies of Breast Surgery Complications”, also tells a story of another family who will be burying their teenage daughter this week.  Stephanie Kuleba, captain of her cheering squad, a nearly straight –A student, preparing to embark on a premed education as a freshman at the Univ. of Florida, apparently died of a rare and potentially lethal reaction to general anesthesia known as malignant hyperthermia which sends the body into shock.

Stephanie was scheduled to undergo cosmetic reconstructive breast surgery at the Boca Raton Outpatient Surgery unit last Friday. Sometime between administering the anesthetic and before the breast augmentation procedure began was about to begin, something went terribly wrong, and she was rushed to nearby Delray Medical Center.

It appears that the only antidote to what had transpired in Stephanie’s body is an intravenous muscle relaxant known as Dantrolene sodium (brand name Dantrium) which is typically administered in the event of malignant hyperthermia, was only administered when she arrived at Delray.   Among the many questions being asked is why the drug was not administered earlier, as the protocol would require.

But somewhere lurking in many people’s mind in the question, what is there about our society which encourages 18 year old girls to seek, and their parents to consent to cosmetic breast surgery.  Why a growing number of teenagers are choosing to have breast augmentation and other plastic surgeries — are questions that many experts find alarming.        

According to Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a Fox News medical contributor, “we are seeing an increase in the number of teens who are undergoing elective cosmetic procedures. It's just another example of how teenagers are increasingly fixated on physical appearance with potentially dangerous consequences."

Reality shows like "Extreme Makeover," the explosion of celebrity culture and the internet are all culprits, she said.  Dr. Ashton blames the pattern on "the increasing pop-culture pressure that permeates the every thought of teenagers" and the "unrestricted access to trends, treatments, cults and movements" kids now have when they go online.

Two tragic stories, two families burying their young daughters, and for what? 

Is it possible that one family’s religious beliefs could blind them to the consequences of diabetes which in effectively denied their own beloved daughter the medical care that would have kept her alive and healthy.

And isn’t it equally tragic that something in our own beauty-driven society almost compels a teenage to risk and suffer the consequences of elective surgery, all in the name of being more attractive.

These two deaths should never have happened.  Never!