A German court has handed down suspended prison sentences to two parents from the Vogtlandkreis region after they secretly administered a potent prescription rheumatism drug to their teenage daughter over a period of several months, according to announcements from the Zwickau Regional Court reported by regional broadcaster MDR. The victim, identified in court records as Marie-Herta M., was 13 years old when the covert administration of methotrexate began in January 2020, eventually pushing her to the brink of organ failure and the threshold of death by May 2020.
Zwickau Regional Court Sentences Parents Over Methotrexate Poisoning
According to the Zwickau Regional Court, the mother, Ramona M., received a one-year and six-month suspended sentence, while her husband, Rudi M., received a two-year suspended sentence. A third defendant in the case, the victim’s half-sister Sarah S., was acquitted by the court, with the panel noting she carried no legal duty of care toward the teenager, as detailed by MDR. The criminal proceedings concluded roughly six and a half years after the severely ill child was first rushed to a hospital in May 2020.
During the trial, the court established that the parents crushed methotrexate tablets—a medication originally prescribed to Ramona M. for her own rheumatoid arthritis—and mixed them into the victim’s food and beverages. Investigators and medical experts were unable to determine which of the defendants physically administered the crushed pills, and the court stated that the precise motive behind the poisoning remains entirely unexplained. According to MDR’s reporting on the closed-session hearings, court officials declined to elaborate on potential motives due to privacy restrictions surrounding parts of the trial.
Medical Crisis and Near-Fatal Organ Failure
The victim’s health deteriorated progressively over a span of roughly five months, according to court findings documented by MDR. Marie-Herta M. initially experienced persistent head and stomachaches, which soon compounded into severe nausea, recurrent fevers, vomiting, dizziness, and profound physical weakness. Despite multiple local physicians advising the family to seek immediate hospital admission, the parents failed to secure the necessary medical intervention.
By early May 2020, the teenager could no longer move independently around the house, was barely responsive, and required assistance simply to drink water. On May 14, 2020, the half-sister finally placed an emergency call. Hospital physicians immediately diagnosed the girl with severe anemia alongside acute bone marrow and liver failure. A responding emergency doctor testified that the child was at the transitional boundary of the dying phase, and court officials confirmed that only intensive emergency medical treatment averted her death.
Now a young adult no longer living with her parents, the victim exercised her right to refuse testimony during the court proceedings, leaving lingering questions about whether she faces permanent physical consequences from the poisoning, as noted by MDR. The parents ultimately entered guilty pleas near the conclusion of the evidentiary phase. In determining the sentences, the presiding chamber weighed their confessions and clean criminal records favorably against the gravity of the breach of parental duties, the prolonged duration of the abuse, and the mortal danger inflicted upon their daughter, ultimately granting probation based on favorable social prognoses.