A Malaysian middle-aged woman has died after refusing to be treated by insulin to control her diabetes because she believes in traditional homoeopathy.
The case was publicized by a forensic pathologist Dr Tan Ran Zhi who gave an account of what had happened to her and how he later had a difficult talk with her husband.
A Choice against Medical Advice.
The woman had been having years of diabetes, according to Dr Tan. Prior to her death, she had undergone a number of surgeries because of severe diabetic foot wounds two and a half years prior to her death.
Doctors prescribed her to keep on the insulin injections after she was released from the hospital. They told her that she required insulin to manage her sugar level in the blood and to allow her wounds to heal well.
Her husband however later disclosed that she lacked faith in Western medicine. Instead, she was more inclined to trust in the traditional homoeopathy as the system of alternative treatment which was developed over 200 years ago. Also against medical advice, she had quit using insulin and applied other remedies at home.
Dr Tan remembered questioning the husband about the reason why he was supportive of his wife in her decision. The husband is quoted saying that he said yes because he loved her. The husband dropped his head and said nothing when Dr Tan inquired whether he still stood by her choice when he saw her lying on the autopsy table.
A Worsening Condition
At the autopsy Dr Tan had smelled a strong and strange odour which was emanating out of the body of the woman. He said the scent must have been caused by infected wounds and rotting flesh. Under her skin, the tissue was seriously impaired by years of infection and insufficiency of oxygen.
Her right ankle was an untreated diabetic foot ulcer that had eventually deteriorated. As time changed, the infection permeated deeper into her body. According to Dr Tan, the woman had contracted necrotising fasciitis, myositis and osteomyelitis, which are severe infections of the skin, muscles as well as bones. The infection later spread to her blood and resulted in sepsis, and later she died.
A Difficult Reflection
Dr Tan subsequently informed that patients are at liberty to believe in traditional practices provided their doctors who are attending them do not mind. Nevertheless, he emphasized that alternative medicine should not exclude the necessary medical treatment. Here, the infection was not contained due to the lack of insulin.
The narrative has attracted attention on the social media in Malaysia. The occurrences of a treatable condition becoming fatal shocked many people. The fact that the woman died indicates how serious diabetes may turn out to be in case the medical treatment is not taken properly or avoided.
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