Malnutrition, skin disorder contributed to toddler’s death, doctor tells court
Neuropathologist who examined boy’s brain says it was small for his age
The death of a Calgary toddler was due to malnutrition and a rare skin condition, a medical examiner testified Wednesday.
Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim, testifying at the trial of parents Jennifer and Jeromie Clark, said she conducted an autopsy on 14-month-old John Clark’s body on Dec. 2, 2013.
“What was the cause of death?” Crown prosecutor Shane Parker asked the pathologist.
“I determined the cause of death … as an overwhelming staphylococcal septicemia due to a consequence of deficiency dermatitis due to a consequence of malnutrition,” Brooks-Lim said.
“The child was malnourished,” the doctor said.
“In the end, he died of a sepsis infection.”
Jeromie, 38, and Jennifer Clark, 41, are charged with criminal negligence causing death in connection with the toddler’s Nov. 29, 2013, death at Alberta Children’s Hospital.
He was taken there the day before after being rushed to Foothills Medical Centre by his parents.
The couple is also charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life in caring for the young boy.
Brooks-Lim said she found “a very deep and severe, what I would describe as a 70 per cent body skin redness.
“Seventy per cent of the body was covered in this rash,” she said, describing it as necrosis, or “dying of the skin.”
She said there was no evidence of physical trauma to the child.
“There were no broken bones, there was no evidence of any blow,” Brooks-Lim said.
She said a toxicology was also done to determine if the child was exposed to alcohol or other intoxicants, either intentionally or by accident, but the only drugs she found were in relation to his hospital treatment before his death.
“Toxicology did not contribute to his death,” Brooks-Lim testified.
She said she was able to examine the toddler’s tissue microscopically.
“There was what I would describe as an overwhelming sepsis and malnutrition,” she said.
“There were so many different organs involved.”
Brooks-Lim said she concluded the skin condition “was caused by a nutritional deficiency dermatitis.”
“It’s a rare diagnosis to make … you don’t see this condition very often,” said the doctor, whose testimony resumes Friday.
Meanwhile, a Vancouver neuropathologist who examined the boy’s brain said it was small for his age.
Dr. Chris Dunham testified the child’s brain weighed 651 grams at autopsy, but should have been closer to a kilogram for his age.
But under cross-examination by Jennifer Clark’s lawyer, John Phillips, the witness agreed a child of John’s height, 65 cm, would have a brain weighing 691 grams at seven months and 714 grams at eight months.
The trial continues.