“My honest opinion is that it is highly unlikely that ketamine was the cause of Georgina’s death, but no one can rule it out,” the UK doctor, who has won international awards for her research in immunology, said at the trial of Roula Pispirigou. and Genetics and member of the Royal Society of London, Carola Garcia de Vinues.

The scientist, called as defense witness of the accused, worked extensively with other colleagues on the case of a mother who was convicted in Australia in 2003 for the deaths of her three children, considering that the case was likely to be pathogenic, due to rare genetic factors and not a criminal act. The woman in question was released on parole last June.

As the doctor mentioned in her testimony, from the information she studied about Georgina, she estimates that the child showed clinical evidence sufficient and particularly severe to require detailed investigation of the presence of a hereditary factor. Especially, as she pointed out, since there was previously the death of her sister, Malena.

Emphasizing that she is not an expert on substance issues, the witness, citing information from the medical community, stated that “the ketamine detected in the girl’s blood is very close to therapeutic dose. My honest opinion is that it is extremely unlikely that ketamine killed the girl. She had also been given other drugs. This girl suffered from other conditions that could cause death. Gene sequencing could provide a lot of information».

He also said that many of the conditions given by the child’s clinical picture “could affect the outcome: such as epilepsy, very high blood cell counts, cardiac issues and pneumonia. There is sudden death from epilepsy. The pathological findings in Georgina are similar to those found in her sisters Iris and Malena and this indicates to us that there is a pathological genetic condition.”

Chairman: Can you explain to us how in medical science, why this child developed this gene at the age of 9 and not earlier?

Witness: In genetics we find that family members develop the syndrome at different ages and there are different ways of its manifestation. There are many genes and many variants. Other factors also play a role: certain infections, drugs, environmental reasons can trigger a reaction sooner or later. For example, certain medications could trigger a liver failure, but if the patient does not take them, it may not occur. Also, certain epilepsy treatments could cause some allergies.

Prosecutor: Are there any autopsy findings you’ve seen that confirm this potential genetic problem you’re describing?

Witness: There are some unusual findings. There is the little heart, very small heartwhich indicates reduced cardiac output, there is fatty infiltration and fibrosis in the heart, and there are eosinophils, which are rare.

Prosecutor: Were these findings capable of causing death?

Witness: I can’t say for sure, but these findings are sufficiently unusual and very serious that they should be investigated further.

Responding to a question from the defense counsel for the Class, Dimitris Georgakopoulos, if her interest in the “Pispirigou case” is academic, the witness replied:

“I have not formed an opinion on whether Ms Pispirigou is innocent or guilty. However, in rare syndromes we show scientific interest all over the world” while mentioning that genetic factors should be taken very seriously before any other interpretation. He added that in similar cases it prevails the doctrine “one death of a child: drama, two: suspects, three: crime” pointing out, however, that now scientific genetic research can help and provide answers to every case.

As he said, in Britain when there is a sudden death of a child, full genetic testing is done, which he knows is not done in other countries.

The trial will continue tomorrow.