Alex Radita's parents suspected of faking his blood sugar readings, murder trial hears
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While Alex Radita was being cared for by a foster mother, he was described as chatty, funny and giggly. But just weeks after being returned to his parents, he became quiet, wouldn't joke around and was "downward looking," according to testimony by one of the boy's doctors in a Calgary courtroom.
Emil and Rodica Radita are on trial for first-degree murder in the death of Alex, 15, who weighed just 37 pounds at the time of his death in May 2013 in Calgary.
The family moved to Alberta in 2009, but until then had been living in British Columbia, where Alex was originally diagnosed with diabetes at age two.
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From that point on, Alex was hospitalized several times and his parents were in denial about his diagnosis, refusing to properly treat him.
The year after his diagnosis, it was suspected that the Radita parents were taking their own blood sugar readings and reporting them to the hospital, according to Dr. Daniel Metzger, a pediatric endocrinologist who was part of the medical team tasked with managing Alex's diabetes.
The parents had been ordered to report the readings to hospital staff following the boy's initial diagnosis, said the doctor.
Metzger testified on Tuesday that he wrote a letter to B.C.'s social services in 2001 explaining that he believed Alex was in danger in the family home.
Emil and Rodica did not believe in Metzger's diabetes diagnosis, according to his testimony.
Conflict with parents
Court heard evidence of a highly tense relationship between the Radita parents and hospital staff.
"There was a lot of conflict between the parents, the nurses, security at the hospital," said Metzger. "When I wasn't meant to be directly taking care of Alex, I was keeping away from the parents."
A few years later, in 2004, Alex was taken to hospital near death. During that hospitalization, Alex was taken from his parents and placed with a foster mother for a year.
Alex talked about school, joked and giggled a lot, said the doctor of Alex's personality while he lived with his foster mother.
"He was a different person … from when I first met him," said Metzger. "[Alex] was chatty to the point where you could barely get him to stop talking."
"We had quite a nice little relationship going."
Raditas disappear
But just weeks after being returned to his parents, Metzger testified that he noticed a difference in Alex, who had become quiet, kept his eyes down and had stopped joking.
Metzger continued to treat Alex until 2008, when the family failed to show up for an appointment. An investigation was launched but the Raditas could not be found.
"We did as many inquiries as we could do," said Metzger. "At that point, it had been a year since the parents had bought insulin in British Columbia. We called the school and they hadn't seen him in a long time."
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Horner has yet to rule on the admissibility of the B.C. evidence.
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