A Los Angeles herbalist convicted of practicing without a license has been sentenced to four months in prison for child abuse in the same case related to the death of a 13-year-old diabetic boy, the city attorney announced.
Timothy Morrow, 84, was found guilty of one count of practicing without a license in a jury trial on Feb. 20 and pleaded no contest Monday to a related charge of misdemeanor child abuse, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike said. Failure to file a claim and did not contest that the accident could have caused serious injury or death. Mr. Feuer said in his statement.
According to Feuer, the Torrance, Calif.-based self-described “master herbalist” instructed Edgar Lopez to take herbs instead of the insulin prescribed by his pediatrician and began treating Edgar Lopez in early 2014. He started treatment for type 1 diabetes.
The coroner would later determine that Lopez would have survived had he received proper treatment.
The victim's parents claimed that Morrow visited their home in South Los Angeles in August 2014 after their son became critically ill with complications from diabetes and was in a “semi-comatose state.”
According to Feuer's statement, the parents told prosecutors that the herbalist advised them again to administer the herbs he was selling and urged them not to give Edgar insulin.
Prosecutors said Edgar went into cardiac arrest shortly afterward and died the next day at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
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NBC Los Angeles reported that the girl's mother, Maria Madrigal, told the jury through a Spanish interpreter that Moreau had told her to “never trust the doctor,” and that the girl's mother, Maria Madrigal, told the jury, “Never, never trust a doctor.” ''He said he felt brainwashed. She also started donating, she said. Her son prescribed supplements and products that were only prescribed to her after she met Moreau.
Defense attorney Sanford Perlis disputed Madrigal's testimony at trial, saying no one forced the parents to withhold insulin.
“No one held a gun on Edgar. No one held a gun on Edgar's mother. No one stole the insulin from that house, so Edgar's mother couldn't use it,” Perlis said. He said this in his closing argument. “Edgar's mother wanted to do what Edgar's mother wanted to do.”
Perlis said Tuesday he accepted the plea deal because his client is “very elderly” and the court process was “difficult.” The lawyer claimed Madrigal had given his client herbs to his son before meeting him.
The victim's brother, Daniel Lopez, said the family has no comment at this time.
In addition to serving 120 days in county jail, Morrow was sentenced to 48 months' probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and restitution to the victim's family for funeral expenses. He is scheduled to be jailed on March 22nd.
Feuer's office said he was officially advised that he could be charged with murder if he continued this behavior and caused or caused the death of another human being.
The court also ordered Moreau to remove his YouTube videos in which he promoted herbal remedies rather than traditional medicine. One video is titled “Shots, They're Killing Me!” In Part 1, the herbalist claims that vaccinating children is like injecting them with “absolute poison.”
“This case highlights the serious health and safety risks of receiving medical advice from someone who is not licensed or properly trained,” Feuer said in a statement Monday. .
Nicole Acevedo contributed.
