A jury heard testimony Monday that a 14-month-old boy’s treatment in hospital, not malnutrition or an overwhelming infection, was to blame for the baby’s death.
Jeromie and Jennifer Clark have pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life for their son John.
READ MORE: Calgary baby who died was alert at Alberta Children’s Hospital, court hears
Jeromie Clark’s lawyer David Chow called Anny Sauvageau, Alberta’s former chief medical examiner, as an expert witness on Monday.
She contradicted testimony from the current chief medical examiner, Elizabeth Brooks-Lim, that suggested John was malnourished and died of sepsis.
Sauvageau looked at John’s autopsy report, a neuropathologist’s report and medical records. She said the child is most likely to have died of an “overly aggressive correction” of the sodium in his blood.
READ MORE: ‘On death’s doorstep:’ Trial begins for Calgary couple charged in son’s death
The jury has already heard that doctors gave John saline fluids after his parents took him to a Calgary hospital on Nov. 28, 2013. He died the following day after suffering a seizure and two cardiac arrests.
Sauvageau testified John was given far too much fluid within an hour, which diluted his blood.
“No human body can go through that and adapt in an hour,” she said.
Sauvageau also suggested John’s small size was due to a hormonal issue rather than malnutrition. She based that in part on the proportions of his body.
For instance, she said, when children are malnourished, they normally lose weight before deficiencies affect their growth. In John’s case, it was the opposite: he was very short, but on the chubby side.
“In my opinion, it is not malnutrition and there’s absolutely no evidence whatsoever of any type of malnutrition in this kid,” Sauvageau said.
As for septic shock, two of three cultures taken were negative for staph bacteria, she said. And if he had been really sick, the initial one taken _ before he was given antibiotics _ would have tested positive, but didn’t.
Jennifer Clark’s lawyer is not presenting evidence on her behalf.
Jurors earlier heard Crown testimony that John had some blackened toes, an unusual rash and an abnormally low body temperature when he arrived at the hospital.
READ MORE: Calgary baby death trial hears rash suggested nutritional deficiency, not eczema
Prosecutor Shane Parker said in his opening statement earlier this month that John was born at home, had never been vaccinated, was not fed properly and had never seen a doctor until the day before he died.
Parker said that John was on “death’s doorstep” when he was taken to hospital and, because he was malnourished, he was unable to fight off a staph infection.
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