A 16-year-old boy whose family relies on faith rather than medical treatment has died after suffering from stomach pain and shortness of breath, police said

Gladstone, Ore., police said the boy's relatives, members of the Followers of Christ Church, told police that he had refused medical treatment after becoming ill a week ago. Under state law, anyone over 14 has the right to refuse treatment.

The 16-year-old, Neil Beagley, suffered from an inflammation in his urethra, a tube leading from his bladder, which made him unable to urinate, Deputy State Medical Examiner Dr. Clifford Nelson told ABC News affiliate KATU-TV in Portland.

Beagley filled up with urine, and that eventually ruined his bladder, kidneys and heart, said Nelson. He called it "an absolutely horrible way to die."

The teen's condition could have been treated with the use of a catheter, however, Nelson said.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5197489&page=1

Stupid kid =\

That really sucks.

It's hardly the kid's fault. If he's part of a relgion that practices faith healing he would have been ostracised for accepting treatment, and if you've grown up in a close knit fundalmentalist community, he may have considered this worse than death.

Stupid pointless death though.

Stupid parents as well. But still, at 16 he is probably old enough to understand his decision.

Maybe. He might have just been delusional. I know I did more incredibly unwise things when I was 16, many more, than I did when I was 36. And most of those unwise things came down to not having much sense of my mortality.

If you have a strong belief in faith healing this is very much going cloud your sense of mortality. Eternal bliss versus a catheter, i know what i'd be choosing.

A series by the Oregonian newspaper announced that of 78 minors buried in the graveyard over 35 years, 21 "probably would have lived with medical intervention, often as simple as antibiotics."

http://www.skeptictank.org/hs/fhkiler2.htm

same church

That's the downside to blind faith. However, those people died staying firm to what they believe in, so in a way, you have to admire them for that.

Faith healing is for quacks. Faith healing can not cure anything. Modern medicine heals people not religion.

BTW: There are many stupid people who hand over money to be faith healed from incurable diseases. idiots. lol. The wicked do take advantage of the vulnerable. 

If they are adults making an informed decision, then of course that is their right. As people get older they at least have some ability to question whatever they've been taught and can decide whether their faith or their life is more important to them. When it comes to kids however (the 21/78, not the 16 yr old) i don't think it's fair for that decision to be made for them.