I posted your question on Exfamily.org, GenX board. I think it's a good question, and I'd like to know what people experienced and remember about those kinds of problems in the homes.

Re: Medical Care in the homes


There was a young woman in Houston in 1971 who was diabetic. i remember overhearing that she needed to have "the faith" that she had been healed and that she no longer needed the medication that she was requesting (i don't know if any 'formal" healing had been performed). Girls slept separately from guys and something happened one night when i wasn't on Security and she ended up in a local hospital. Being a driver, i had to chauffeur somebody there the next day and i had to wait out in the parking lot, didn't get to go in, so i don't really know what happened, but i am sure it was connected to her medical condition and i could sense a lot of concern about it except i didn't feel the concern for the woman's health as was great as the concern of adverse publicity. Before this episode, i remember her family had also been concerned about her joining a group that frowned upon medication (at least at that time).

i cannot recall her name for she was with us only a short time, but i do recall her face. She seemed very dedicated and wanted to be with us, but i never saw her again after that.

Did the family ever condone the use of medications at any time in later years up to the present? i haven't thought about this in a long time. i did run across more than a few persons with unspecified mental illnesses who obviously needed medication. We had a stillborn in P.R. in 1972 or early 1973 delivered i believe at one of the homes. There was also another pregnancy that ended up in a "system" hospital, something that was always thought of as falling short of the mark.

In the 70's, most members did not receive any kind of routine medical or dental care. Prenatal medical visits were rare, except for a "system" midwife at delivery, sometimes. Children were seldom vaccinated. Another thread (How did TF handle STD's) touched on an area of great concern; the problems associated with STD's and the lack of education and treatment of members who had contracted any of these numerous diseases, many of which can be easily cured if properly diagnosed and treated. The HIV, HPV and herpes viruses are not so forgiving though, and while herpes isn't usually fatal, without early diagnosis and treatment, AIDS and cervical/uterine cancer often are. Neglect, ignorance and undeserved devotion exact a heavy toll.