Church Told to Pay $9 Million More in Death of Diabetic Boy

A jury has ordered the Christian Science Church to pay $9 million in punitive damages over the death of a boy whose mother relied on prayer to treat his diabetes. It is the first such verdict against the church.

The Hennepin County jury awarded Douglass Lundman, the father of the 11-year-old, $5.2 million in compensatory damages from the church, his ex-wife and her husband in a decision last week. In assessing the additional damages Wednesday, the jury tried to send a message to the church to change its stand on spiritual healing when children are involved, the jury forewoman said.

“The real issue for me was that a child didn’t have a choice,” Judy Hanks, the forewoman, said.

One legal expert said the jury also sent a troubling message about religious freedom.

“This is literally an example of courts trying to punish a church for what it believes in and teaches to its members,” said Michael Paulsen, a University of Minnesota law professor who specializes in church-state matters.

Ian Lundman died in 1989 after falling into a diabetic coma. Douglass Lundman said the boy could have been saved if he had received medical treatment even two hours before his death.

Instead, his mother prayed at his bedside as a Christian Science nurse jotted notes about his condition. The church teaches that prayer and Bible reading can cure illness and are incompatible with medicine.