Judge: Texas Girl to Stay in State Custody

[johnnie]

"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A judge ruled Thursday that the state will retain custody of a 13-year-old girl who was taken from her parents after they refused to continue her cancer treatments and the cancer, which appeared to have been eliminated, returned"

Katie Wernecke, who is suffering from Hodgkin's Disease, will remain with Child Protective Services indefinitely, juvenile court Judge
Carl Lewis ruled. Katie, who has been in state custody since June 4, was scheduled to see doctors at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston on Thursday.

The girl was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, a type of cancer involving the lymph nodes, in January after she was taken to an emergency room with what her parents thought was pneumonia. She received chemotherapy, and the cancer appeared to have gone away."

<snip>
"Earlier this month, Child Protective Services officials took custody of Katie after doctors said the Werneckes were risking their daughter's life by refusing the radiation therapy. A scan last week revealed that the cancer had returned, and on Wednesday Katie's former doctor testified he thought its return was linked to the family's refusal to go forward with the radiation."

More:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20050616/ap_on_re_us/medical_battle

[merwin]

1. I thought conservatives were for less govt and more personal rights.

Go figure...

[iamjoy]

5. And What About Parental Rights?

or the right to refuse medical treatment?
This case is significant for more than just this family.

[LeighAnn]

2. Hope they're letting the parents visit

I can't imagine what the little girl is going through, if they're not. By Supreme Court law they have the right to be present during all medical procedures until such time as their parental rights are terminated, but I've still heard lots of stories about people being arrested for trying to see their kids in the hospital after CPS takes custody.

[noonwitch]

3. It does depend on the situation

In this case, it sounds as if the parents are now in agreement with the hospital, because the cancer has recurred. Even if they weren't, there shouldn't be any restrictions on their visitation.

However, in cases where the kid has been injured or neglected by the parents, sometimes CPS/FC will insist that all visitation be supervised. If the court orders it that way, the parents can only visit if the worker is present (the hospital shouldn't be expected to deal with that).

[alarimer]

4. These people are out to lunch though

An article in the local paper this morning metions the father not wanting to change the younger kid's diaper. He said: "Katie does that" (although she is very sick right now). It also says she had about a day to live when they took here to the hospital in January with some kind of growth.

http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_3859658,00.html

Katie Wernecke had less than a day to live when she arrived at the emergency room of Driscoll Children's Hospital on the afternoon of Jan. 7 with a massive growth on her chest, according to a doctor who treated her.

Dr. Nejemie Alter, who saw Katie when she arrived at the emergency room, said Wednesday that he was so concerned with her health he called in a thoracic surgeon, began stabilizing her condition and ordered chemotherapy

more

[FSogol]

6. All these stories are skipping the explanation.

Why didn't they follow the doctor's recommendation?

They don't seem like the brightest bulbs, but is religion involved? Economic reasons? Hatred/mistrust of science?