By David Tuller, DrPH
During the inquest into the death of Maeve Boothby O’Neill, both of her parents refrained from making public statements about the proceedings. The inquest was held in Exeter, in southwest England, UK, from July 22nd till August 2nd. After the coroner, Deborah Archer, issued her findings–that Maeve died of malnutrition as a consequence of her severe ME–on Friday, August 9th, the parents have felt freeer to speak out. As I noted in a recent post, Maeve’s father, Sean O’Neill, wrote
a piece for The Times, where he is a reporter, that calls for major changes in education, training, and research.
Sarah Boothby, Maeve’s mother, spoke at length about her daughter during a report on the case last week on
Good Morning Britain. The program, which ran for more than 14 minutes, also featured Dr Charles Shepherd, medical adviser to the ME Association. In the interview, Boothby recounts how she and Maeve both came down with some sort of viral infection when her daughter was 12. While they both appeared to recover, Maeve subsequently struggled with repeated bouts of exhaustion and related symptoms.
When they consulted with the doctor, Boothby recalls, he said, “Let’s not medicalize this too soon.” Many parents, of course, receive similarly problematic advice. You can watch the episode here.
