The death of Jett Travolta, the eldest child of actors John Travolta and Kelly Preston (they also have an 8-year old daughter Blu), at the age of 16 is incredibly tragic. No parent should ever have to bury their child or endure the grief of losing them so suddenly and at such a young age, but unfortunately even the rich and famous aren’t immune to terrible losses. Our hearts go out to Jett’s family and we offer our condolences.

According to news reports, results from an autopsy performed on Jett could be revealed as early as today, but until then we can only speculate on what may have caused his death. The family spokespersons have said that Jett may have suffered a blow to the head after he fell in the bathroom while vacationing with family and friends in the Bahamas. Jett suffered from seizures and this may have contributed to him falling and injuring himself. While some additional details trickle in, there are still many unanswered questions.

Jett was know to have some disabilities, though the family was very reluctant to discuss them publicly. Both John and Kelly have maintained their son’s issues stem from Kawasaki disease, which they feel was brought on by exposure to cleaning chemicals when Jett was a toddler. I remember reading an interview with the two of them over a decade ago about this assertion. Kelly discussed baby Jett being on the carpet playing and they felt the chemicals from the cleaner caused him to develop symptoms associated with the disease, which can include fever, a severe and peeling rash and swollen lymph nodes. If left untreated the disease can have lasting affects on the heart.

The rarity of the disease makes it a fairly uncommon condition, striking approximately only 19 out 100,000 children. We don’t know what, if any affect this may have had on Jett’s other problems, which seemed to range from grand mal seizures to learning and communication difficulties. Others have speculated that Jett suffered from autism, which in many instances can cause seizures. A disturbingly high percentage of autistic children develop epilepsy. Here’s what the NIH says about autism and seizures:

Children with autism appear to have a higher than normal risk for certain co-existing conditions, including fragile X syndrome (which causes mental retardation), tuberous sclerosis (in which tumors grow on the brain), epileptic seizures, Tourette syndrome, learning disabilities, and attention deficit disorder. For reasons that are still unclear, about 20 to 30 percent of children with autism develop epilepsy by the time they reach adulthood.

Travolta’s lawyers, Michael Ossi and Michael McDermott, who have acted as their spokespeople during this tragedy, acknowledged Jett had been treated for his seizures using a medication called Depakote, but was no longer taking the drug. Details on what the lawyers have said about Jett’s condition from TMZ:

We’re now told the grand mal seizures Jett suffered were “frequent and extremely serious.” Travolta’s lawyers, Michael Ossi and Michael McDermott, tell us “each seizure was like a death,” with Jett losing consciousness and convulsing….Jett had been having seizures on an average of every four days, until he started taking Depakote. Ossi and McDermott say the drug initially worked, reducing the frequency to approximately once every three weeks.

Jett took Depakote for “several years,” but it eventually lost its effectiveness, according to Ossi and McDermott. They say the Travoltas were concerned about possible physical damage. And, Jett went back to having around one seizure a week. So Travolta and Preston, after consulting neurosurgeons, stopped administering the drug.

Sadly, what’s not being talked about by the family, is their religious philosophy towards certain medications and conditions.

The Travolta family are well-known, long standing members of the Church of Scientology. In fact, behind Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, John Travolta and Kelly Preston are the second most famous Scientology couple. According to Scientology beliefs, if Jett was afflicted with autism, this would make him a “degraded being” which is Scientology language for “defective”. The normal course of action for treating a person with these types of conditions is “auditing” and “detoxification”. Auditing is the practice of using an “e-meter” (a type of “lie-detecting device) and going through a series of questions to determine an underlying cause of mental or physical ailment. Detoxification, or “purification rundown” is a series of treatments ranging from high doses of vitamins, especially niacin to extreme heat therapy (think sauna/steam room). Scientologists believe combining these treatments can cure most conditions. What they absolutely oppose is the use of psych medication, like those used to treat seizures, ADD, depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, or essentially any brain chemical altering drugs.

It’s somewhat shocking to hear that Jett was being treated with Depakote for his seizures, as a drug of this nature is also used to treat bi-polar disorder too. This is exactly the type of drug a rank and file member of Scientology would be expressly forbidden to take and could risk “disconnection” (ex-communication) from the Church and their family members for using. But it is generally understood high ranking members of the CoS (like the Travoltas and Cruises) are given allowances from the “rules” their less wealthy or unimportant members aren’t.

If you look at the above video taken in late fall of 2008 while the Travolta family visited Paris, you can observe rare live footage of Jett with his parents and handlers. I am NOT a doctor, but from my perspective Jett suffers from some form of mental disability, which I would characterize as autistic in nature. Even members of John Travolta’s inner circle felt Jett suffered from autism. His brother Joey, who worked on a documentary about autism tried confronting John about his nephew’s conditon. From the LATimes:

John didn’t believe his condition was autism, a condition not recognized by Scientology. Brother Joey believed Jett suffered from autism.

Ironically, John’s brother Joey had learned a lot about the disorder when he interviewed 65 autistic youngsters for a documentary called “Normal People Scare Me.” He even co-wrote the theme song, “Locked Inside of Me.”

The award-winning documentary taught people about autism, which can cause violent seizures. Joey also formed the group Actors for Autism, which helps autism sufferers make films about their lives and experiences.

The friend told the Mirror: “Joey could see Jett in every one of those 65 kids he spoke to (for the film.) It was so obvious Jett was autistic just from spending five minutes with him, but the cruel fact of their religion meant his parents simply did not accept it.”

John and Kelly have long denied suggestions that Jett had autism, saying instead that he suffered from seizures brought on by Kawasaki Syndrome.

According to the Telegraph, some health experts say there is no link between Kawasaki and seizures. However, it’s reportedly common for sufferers of autism to have seizures if they are left untreated.

Autism is often associated with epilepsy. Nearly half of autistic children in the U.S. are prescribed anti-convulsion drugs. About a third develop epilepsy. Many suffer from seizures that can begin in adolescence.

And, according to many experts, there are dozens of drugs designed to help, beyond the one Jett was reportedly forced to discontinue because it stopped working.

Some critics of Scientology have suggested that the quality of Jett’s life could have been dramatically improved had his parents gotten him early intervention for autism, but because of their beliefs, they refused to even acknowledge autism exists.

Worse yet in all of this tragic news, are the implications of some kind of improper relationship between the nanny, Jeff Kathrein, who found Jett and John Travolta. In 2006, a picture surfaced of John Travolta kissing family friend and photographer (and apparently caregiver to Jett) Jeff Kathrein, on the tarmac of John’s private Florida estate. After the photo emerged, Travolta spokespeople shrugged off the “gay” rumor (one that has plagued John Travolta for years) by saying John kisses all loved ones on the lips. Leave it to some tabloids to dig deep during tragic events for tawdry news.

I think the real issue here is how much influence did the Church of Scientology have over John Travolta and Kelly Preston’s decisions regarding Jett’s treatment. If Depakote didn’t work for Jett’s seizures, shouldn’t they have tried something else? Clearly the family was well aware of his condition, he did have two nannies who employed the use of a baby monitor and bathroom chimes to keep tabs on the 16-year old. Did the CoS prevent the Travoltas from properly treating their son because of faulty science stemming from “religious” beliefs?

If so, then it would seem the CoS has yet another preventable death on their hands. How many tragedies must unfold until the authorities take a closer look at this group? You can be sure there will be more such allegations attacking Scientology’s involvement in this case over the course of the investigation. This is not the first time concern has been raised over Scientology’s involvement in unexplained deaths.

RIP Jett.

Source: D