http://www.aras.ab.ca/ej.html (Part Five)

*****October 2

What Really Happened to Eliza Jane? Christine Maggiore

 On Saturday September 24, 2005, The Los Angeles Times ran a front-page
story on the death of my three year-old child, Eliza Jane Scovill, under
the condemnatory headline, ?A Mother?s Denial, A Daughter?s Death.? My
reply to the extensive article, as yet unpublished, was restricted to a
150-word letter to the editor.

Below please find my 149 words on the subject followed by the full text
of my original letter to The LA Times.


 Shortened Letter Christine Maggiore

 Re: ?A Mother?s Denial? (Saturday September 24)

In response to your article ?A Mother?s Denial,? medical records show my
daughter did not exhibit symptoms consistent with pneumonia. On her last
doctor visit, Eliza-Jane had no cough or respiratory congestion. After
collapsing the next day following antibiotic administration, ER doctors
performed a series of chest X-rays that revealed nothing. After careful
examination of her lungs during a May autopsy, the coroner found no
apparent cause of death.

One month and no cause later, the coroner?s office called her
pediatrician demanding to know if he knew about my book and HIV status.
Despite their discovery, it took three more months for the coroner to
decide my daughter died of AIDS-pneumonia.

Is Eliza-Jane?s a diagnosis by association? Unlike her father and
brother, did she actually test HIV positive? While we wait for the
conclusion of an independent investigation, interested readers may
follow our side of the story at ejlovetour.com.


 Full Letter (too long for LA Times) Christine Maggiore

  ?A Mother?s Denial,? your article on the death of my daughter, Eliza
Jane Scovill, breezed past a number of crucial facts in its rush to
publication and judgment.

Medical records show my daughter did not exhibit symptoms consistent
with the coroner?s determination of pneumonia, AIDS-related or
otherwise. The three pediatricians who examined Eliza Jane in the days
before her death all noted clear lungs. At a doctor visit on May 14, the
day before she died, no cough or respiratory congestion was evident.
When my daughter collapsed at home the next evening following her fourth
dose of antibiotic, she did not have the blue lips or fingertips
suggestive of life-threatening pneumonia.

After being transported to a near-by hospital by ambulance, emergency
room doctors took a series of chest X-rays that revealed nothing to
account for her dire condition. All other tests run that terrible night
left ER doctors without an explanation for my daughter?s death. For this
reason, Eliza Jane was brought to the Los Angeles County Coroner for an
autopsy.

During an autopsy performed on May 18, my daughter?s lungs were
carefully examined, weighed and measured. The coroner released her body
to a mortuary the following day having found no apparent cause of death.

Just before Eliza Jane?s memorial service on May 29, my husband
contacted the coroner?s office for an update on our daughter?s case and
spoke directly with the medical examiner. She informed him they had yet
to discover what took our little girl?s life, and having eliminated the
common and obvious, they would now go through a check-list that included
investigation of such unsettling possibilities as chemical toxins and
poisons. That same week, a curious friend phoned the coroner?s office
and asked if HIV tests were routinely administered in cases of
unexplained death. He was told that ?the symptoms of AIDS are so
obvious? it?s not necessary to run HIV tests on all patients referred
with no apparent cause.

On June 28, one of my daughter?s pediatricians received a call from the
coroner?s office demanding to know if he was aware of my book and HIV
status. Before hanging up, the doctor was threatened with a subpoena.
Despite the apparent new awareness of my HIV positivity and
controversial book, it still took three more months for the corner to
decide upon a diagnosis of AIDS-related pneumonia.

Given the circumstances, we have questions about the medical and
scientific basis for the coroner?s conclusion. Did Eliza Jane get a
diagnosis by association or is there incontrovertible clinical evidence
for AIDS-related pneumonia? Did our daughter, unlike her father and
brother, actually test HIV positive? We won?t know until the conclusion
of an independent investigation in three weeks. In the meantime, my
family must not only endure the pain and devastation of our horrendous
loss, but the world?s speculation and scrutiny. We only hope that when
all the facts are in, the LA Times will rush to publish the rest of our
story.