Colorado Springs mom resumes son's chemo after doctors balk at marijuana treatment

[kentuck]

<snip>
Facing the threat of a bitter court battle, a Colorado Springs mother on Monday resumed treating her 3-year-old son's cancer the traditional way: using chemotherapy.

Had she been left to choose, Sierra Riddle would have swapped those chemo-filled pills for a unique strain of medicinal marijuana grown near Divide.

<snip>
Children's Hospital doctors in Colorado Springs ordered the treatment, and the case was reported to the El Paso County Department of Human Services when Riddle refused. The case has raised the issue of parental rights when weighed against doctors' expertise - a debate that boils down to whether Landon Riddle's mother could scientifically prove her case in court, said F. Scott McCown, director of the University of Texas' Children's Rights Clinic. In other words, they have to side with research.

<snip>
She planned to continue the marijuana supplements until a doctor at Children's Hospital objected and her case was reported to the El Paso County Department of Human Services.



http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-mom-resumes-sons-chemo-after-doctors-balk-at-marijuana-treatment/article/1507382

[Warpy]

1. Good for her for not having it go to court

and losing medical custody. Grass is a great adjunct to chemo, helping patients cope with nausea and keep their weight up. I worked in one chemo unit that had an unheated stairwell open to the outdoors where patients would go "for a little fresh air" and come back reeking of pot smoke and we all looked the other way. We've known for decades about how much more bearable it makes chemo. It's time for the DEA to drop its persecution of people who use this plant for any and all reasons.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I clicked on the link, but the article doesn't show, just the title and author.

Thanks for the thread, kentuck.

[kentuck]

4. Hmmmm...

Sometimes the Gazette is blocked to certain programs? Do you have Ghostery or a similar program to block ads and cookies? It worked for me??

[Uncle Joe]

7. Perhaps I do, but this is the first time an article didn't show, just the title.

I may need to get my brother out here to clean my computer up.

I made the mistake of downloading a program a couple of weeks ago to view a short movie (Monthy Python) and I have been getting pop-up blockers ever since.

[kentuck]

8. You may be able to go into your Control Panel...

and click on the Add or Remove icon and remove the program if you recall what it was?

[Uncle Joe]

13. I opened it up but I'm not sure what to delete.

One thing I do know, before I had Google as my home page after I downloaded what was needed to view the Monty Python short, it switched to Ask.

[mucifer]

14. click on under "jobs" and "classified" the word "marijuana" and it will take you to the story.

[Uncle Joe]

15. Thanks for the tips, mucifer.

[kentuck]

31. Yeah, you don't want to delete anything...

unless you know what it does.

[longship]

3. Good. If she hadn't, child should be taken into protective custody.

Parents who make ignorant decisions like she had should lose their rights to make such decisions.

The child is the least of those responsible here. But a parent has a responsibility to make informed decisions.

[mucifer]

5. Wow that was VERY irresponsible what this mom did. This is a VERY treatable type of cancer.

It is ALL leukemia in a 3 yo. I am a pediatric nurse. She should not have stopped the treatment:

A new study shows that children with the most common type of childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a survival rate of more than 90%. ALL accounts for about 3 out of 4 cases of childhood leukemia.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center found that the 5-year survival rate for children and adolescents with ALL improved from 83.7% for those diagnosed between 1990 and 1994, to 90.4% for those diagnosed between 2000 and 2005. In the 1960s, the 5-year survival rate was less than 10%. The survival rates increased for girls and boys of all racial and ethnic groups and for all age groups except infants under 1 year old. Improvements in survival for African-American patients with ALL were so significant, they narrowed the racial survival gap.

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/childhood-leukemia-survival-rates-improve-significantly

Why would you stop a treatment that has a 90% 5 year survival rate that used to have a less than 10% survival rate and put the child on marijuana???

I would understand if it was a different kind of cancer with a very poor prognosis. I could understand using marijuana oil for the nausea and vomiting. But, why would she stop the chemo?

Doctors sure can't cure a lot of things. But, chemotherapy has done some amazing things for kids with cancer.

[dionysus]

6. cause mom believes in woo, most likely.

[solarhydrocan]

9. Here's some Cancer.gov woo for you

Cancer.gov: Have any preclinical (laboratory or animal) studies been conducted using Cannabis or cannabinoids?


Preclinical studies of cannabinoids have investigated the following activities:

Antitumor activity
Studies in mice and rats have shown that cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells.

A study in mice showed that cannabinoids may protect against inflammation of the colon and may have potential in reducing the risk of colon cancer, and possibly in its treatment.

A laboratory study of delta-9-THC in hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) cells showed that it damaged or killed the cancer cells. The same study of delta-9-THC in mouse models of liver cancer showed that it had antitumor effects. Delta-9-THC has been shown to cause these effects by acting on molecules that may also be found in non-small cell lung cancer cells and breast cancer cells.

A laboratory study of cannabidiol in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells.

A laboratory study of cannabidiol in human glioma cells showed that when given along with chemotherapy, cannabidiol may make chemotherapy more effective and increase cancer cell death without harming normal cells.


http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/patient/page2

Marijuana Cuts Lung Cancer Tumor Growth In Half, Study Shows

Apr. 17, 2007 — The active ingredient in marijuana cuts tumor growth in common lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread, say researchers at Harvard University who tested the chemical in both lab and mouse studies...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm

Anti tumor effects have been known since the early '70s

Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74

In 1974 researchers learned that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, shrank or destroyed brain tumors in test mice. But the DEA quickly shut down the study and destroyed its results, which were never replicated -- until now...
http://www.alternet.org/story/9257/pot_shrinks_tumors%3B_government_knew_in_'74

[dionysus]

16. i know there are benefits. limited ones. to forgo traditional treatments with

a cancer with a very high survival rate for THC alone is woo. irresponsible woo

[RandiFan1290]

22. They won't read it or acknowledge it

These types think the parents are stuffing joints into their kid's mouth. They think the parents are just looking for a place to score some weed and are using their kids to do it.

Like Charlotte Figi and her family...Just more "woo"

[mucifer]

25. Charlotte has a seizure disorder. Not ALL leukemia that has a 90% cure rate with chemo and a 10%

cure rate without chemotherapy. What might work for seizures and brain tumors might not work with every type of cancer.

[RandiFan1290]

27. It's all woo to them

I just want the human studies to start. That is all. These parents shouldn't have to use cannabis as a last resort.

[mucifer]

29. I agree with the human studies for MMJ. But, meanwhile if there is a treatment that works, use it.

Human studies for MMJ are to far in the future to help this child he needs a treatment now.

[Beaverhausen]

10. Did you read the article?

There is a reason mom wanted the chemo stopped.

[mucifer]

11. Her child was vomiting a lot every day. So she should get the marijuana for that.

[backscatter712]

23. Agreed. I'd suggest MMJ and chemo...

The MMJ is documented to be good at treating nausea & similar chemo side-effects.

MMJ instead of chemo is not a good idea.

[mucifer]

24. If the prognosis was awful, then I would say only MMJ if they find doctors who agree

and can prescribe. But, if the prognosis was very poor with chemo, the parents could choose to not do chemo. No one would take them to court.

[SidDithers]

12. A victory for science based medicine...

hopefully, the child lives a long, healthy life after successful treatment.

Sid

[dionysus]

17. get with the program Sid, why dontcha?

"Nine months of treatments made him violently ill, his mother said, causing him to vomit 30 to 50 times a day. She moved from Utah to Colorado to seek alternative treatments and tried several remedies, including morphine and Oxycontin.

In May, Riddle tried something else.

She stopped a daily regimen of chemotherapy pills in favor of a strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web - a variety grown and sold in Teller County that has gained national attention."

show some compassion man! vaht?

[madrchsod]

19. someone i know has a vested interest in these things

the strains of medical marijuana that target certain conditions is growing each day. someday people will be able to grow or have someone grow for them the strain that will help their condition.

[madrchsod]

18. do you realize medicinal marijuana has been around since 2900 bc?

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000026

my brother in law used pot during his cancer treatments to lesson the effects of chemo and the anti nausea drug he was taking. it worked for him until he couldn't eat anymore then he used it to take the edge off the morphine .

[SidDithers]

20. I fully support its use as a complement to chemo...

this mom was using it on her child as a replacement for chemo.

Sid

[madrchsod]

30. yup that won`t work!

[Recursion]

21. And it's great for dealing with the side-effects of chemo

What it's not is a replacement for chemo.

[malaise]

26. And yet if she had left a gun around and the kid shot himself

she'd get off Scott free. What a life. You can't make medical choices for your own children but the gun goons walk free.

[mucifer]

28. What do you think about Jehovah's Witnesses who don't do transfusions for their kids

and their kids die? I see this as very similar. The doctors and the courts often work out a compromise with Jehovah's Witnesses where the hospital takes temporary custody during the treatment so the parents can keep custody and not feel they are responsible for the transfusions.

I'm glad the child is getting treatment and is with her family and I hope they can find decent ways to fight the side effects. MMJ is legal in that state. It doesn't work for everyone for nausea . I hope it helps her or they find something that does.