Christian Science Church Loses First Civil Suit on Wrongful Death of a Child

IN THE FIRST verdict of its kind, a Minnesota jury on August 25 ordered the Christian Science church to pay 9 million in punitive damages for the death of a boy whose mother and stepfather withheld medical care in favor of Christian Science prayer. The boy, Ian Lundman, 11 years of age, died in 1989 of dehydration and ketoacidosis resulting from medically untreated diabetes. The Christian Science church instructs its followers to shun most medical care for themselves and their children and to rely on prayer instead, which it claims is more effective than medicine (JAMA. 1990;264: 1379-1381). The Hennepin County jury's verdict came just a week after it awarded the boy's biological father, Douglas G. Lundman, and sister 5. 2 million in compensatory damages for the wrongful death of the child. The jury found that the boy's mother and stepfather, Kathleen and William McKown, who are Christian Scientists; the First Church