Expert: Fla. Baby Died of Natural Causes
By CURT ANDERSON
MIAMI – A 6-month-old girl whose parents fed her only raw foods died of natural causes because of a compromised immune system – not malnutrition, a medical expert testified in her parents’ manslaughter trial.
Woyah Andressohn weighed about 7 pounds, half her normal weight, when she died in May 2003. Prosecutors charged her parents with aggravated manslaughter and child neglect, saying their unorthodox diet caused the girl to starve to death.
“What we have is a natural disease that killed someone,” said Dr. John Marraccini, a forensics expert and former Palm Beach County medical examiner, Thursday.
Marraccini said his review of Woyah’s autopsy, medical and police records indicated that she suffered from acid reflux disease, which commonly causes heartburn in adults but can cause greater complications in infants. The baby also had pneumonia and a fungus infection in her esophagus that indicated an immune deficiency.
That deficiency, Marraccini concluded, could have been caused by DiGeorge syndrome, a rare chromosomal disorder in which a person is missing the thymus gland.
“Something’s up with this child, and it’s not just malnutrition,” Marraccini said.
Miami-Dade County’s medical examiner concluded that Woyah’s thymus gland might have withered away because of inadequate diet and made no mention of DiGeorge syndrome.
Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn, who face up to 17 years each if convicted, adhere to a lifestyle that involves eating and feeding their children only natural, uncooked foods.
Woyah was fed wheat grass, coconut water and almond milk.
Earlier Thursday, nutritionist Meryl Brandwein testified it was possible to make adequate baby formula out of raw foods. “Some of the raw food formulas are nutritionally superior to those on the market,” she said. “I would rather make my own.”
Prosecutor Herbert E. Walker III asked Brandwein if a baby could get adequate nutrition if fed only grass.
“Nobody could live on grass by itself,” Brandwein responded. “It’s ridiculous.”