From my state: "Sleepy Eye family would defy court order requiring chemo"

[trotsky]

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/44594367.html

NEW ULM - The mother of 13-year-old Danny Hauser testified today that she and her son would refuse to comply with any court order requiring the boy to resume chemotherapy treatment for his cancer.

"Danny clearly made up his mind. He's not doing it," Colleen Hauser of Sleepy Eye, Minn., testified on the opening day of a trial over whether a judge should order the boy into conventional medical treatment.

Hauser, whose son was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin's lymphoma, said conventional medical treatments such as chemotherapy conflict with the family's religious beliefs. She said the family prefers to use natual remedies such as herbs and vitamins.

You know, I almost have to side with the family on this one. The woos aren't going to lose their grip on the vulnerable and ignorant until enough real people start facing real consequences for their (in)actions. I weep for this poor child who is the innocent victim here, but forcing treatment is only going to strengthen the alt-med crusaders and their myths.

[realisticphish]

1. "I don't want to treat disease with chemicals"

"so I'm going to treat the disease with chemicals"

[Odin2005]

2. I hate crap like this. The child should be removed from the home.

BTW, this is the same Sleepy Eye mentioned by Laura Ingalls Wilder in "The Banks of Plum Creek", in case you guys didn't know!

[progressoid]

3. Danny didn't make up his mind.

At 13, he's still under the thumb of his parents. Hopefully, he can live long enough & distance himself from their influence.

[TZ]

4. Probably he won't

I hate to say it, but I bet he dies from an overdose of toxic "natural" chemicals and vitamins because I'm sure the morons don't think any of that stuff is harmful therefore more is better. My prediction? Vitamin D toxicity/poisoning since woos seem to think its a cancer treatment.

[trotsky]

5. And what I hate about this situation the most

(apart from an innocent child's life at risk) is that the woos have an out no matter what happens. If his one course of chemo worked, they'll thank their "natural" treatment for the results. If he dies, they'll blame the chemo for his death. Science can't win when it comes to woo.

[CanSocDem]

6. Locally, we had a similar situation....

....a few years back. The kid didn't want it(chemo-therapy) again. The cancer had returned and though brought up in a christian fundamentalist home, he wasn't hoping to 'pray' away the disease. He just didn't want to live feeling shitty and his parents respected his position.

Our public health system is usually beyond reproach but they found themselves up against the right-to-die believers, like me, and ended up initiating a court order to enforce the treatment.

Tsk tsk.....

And the kid died anyway and we're all still arguing about individual rights in a corporate world.

[LeftishBrit]

7. And the really awful thing is...

that Hodgkins is one form of cancer that usually IS curable if treated properly. I know two people who had it in the 1970s and are fine - one friend was about the same age as Danny when she had it and was treated.

The thought of teenagers ending up in their graves *unnecessarily* is just so horrifying. I could understand refusing chemo for your child if they had a disase that was very unlikely to be cured anyway; but this is almost like not letting your child have an operation for appendicitis, or antibiotics for pneumonia.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

8. If this kid ends up dying

I hope that the state is able to swing a Voluntary Manslaughter charge out of it. I don't know what the charging elements are for VM in Minnesota, but in several states, I think their actions would be enough to warrant the charge.

Sick fucks like these parents should be forced to see the consequences of their actions.

[Deep13]

9. In this state, religious belief is a defense to child endangering. nt

[LeftishBrit]

10. According to a couple of threads...

the court decided against the parents here. Great news!

I get really upset when people attack modern medicine on ideological grounds - they are basically telling me and most of my family to drop dead.

[CanSocDem]

11. I get really upset....

...when 'the state' assumes authority over my body. They are basically telling me they own me. I'm sure they have an ideology that gives them support.

.

[jberryhill]

13. Fortunately, that is not what happened here

In this case, as in the Schiavo case, what mattered is the individual's right.

In both this case and the Schiavo case, the patient was not competent to make the decision, hence the relevant legal standard applied. In Schiavo's case, it was evidence of her beliefs when competent. In this case, it is a best interests standard.

Fortunately, the court did not "assign" this child's individual right to accept or refuse medical treatment to any person.

The child actually did not believe he was ill in the first place. That's how far from competent he was.

[nickgutierrez]

14. No.

What the state is asserting is that the parents do not have the right to kill their child. He is obviously not competent to make the decision for himself, since he does not even understand that he is ill, and the parents insist on not giving the child treatment that stands a more than reasonable chance to save his life. If this kid dies, the parents should be charged with manslaughter.

[TZ]

16. I'm glad you approve of sanctioned murder of a juvenile, which is what the parents are doing

Odds of survival of Lymphoma with treatment..90%..Odds of untreated Lymphoma killing one--95%. Oh and I'm SURE this child wanted to get sick so he could be with God right? Its his fault he got cancer...:sarcasm:
Child abuse plain and simple..the state has to interfere. Just like if the parents were playing russian roulette or letting their child play with poisonous snakes they will stop it.

[Deep13]

17. You are free to do what you want.

We are talking about minor children here who have not had the chance to make up their own minds.

[Odin2005]

12. OMG, the DU woo-woos are out in force saying "Chemo doesn't work".

I am seriously wanting to punch those morans. I have a cousin who had breast cancer and would be dead right now without chemo.

[TZ]

15. Yeah dying from cancer is soooo much nicer than chemo therapy

Honestly those fucking woos probably have never been around a cancer patient. I've had chemo and I'm still here (although my illness is not technically cancer, the chemo worked to some extent, although I'm on different meds now). I see what a slow death from cancer is. TORTURE. I don't give a fuck what those idiots believe...I'd rather die from the side effects of chemo than from the full blown horror of untreated cancer.