Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy

[BridgeTheGap]

Parents of 13-year-old sought to treat his cancer with ‘alternative medicine’

MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota judge has ruled that a 13-year-old cancer patient whose parents want to treat him with “alternative medicine” must seek conventional medical treatment for their son.

In a 58-page ruling Friday, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been “medically neglected” and is in need of child protection services.

Rodenberg said Daniel will stay in the custody of his parents, but Colleen and Anthony Hauser have until May 19 to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist. The judge wrote that Daniel has only a “rudimentary understanding at best of the risks and benefits of chemotherapy. ... he does not believe he is ill currently. The fact is that he is very ill currently.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30763438

[ixion]

1. So I'm sure the judge will be paying the hundreds of thousands of dollars

that forcing this will require, right?

...

:eyes:

[dflprincess]

3. I would not have wanted to be the judge in this case

Traditional cancer therapies are awful nobody denies this, but this boy has Hodgkin's lymphoma and has been given a 95% chance of survival if he follows the doctors advice and they (granted "they" are the doctors) figure he has less than a 5% chance without them. It isn't like he's in the end stage phase of the disease and the docs are just fighting to prolong his suffering.

Currently he's feeling pretty good and I don't think a 13 year old can really grasp the idea of his own mortality. And, I really can't help but wonder if his parents couldn't bear to see how sick he was from the therapy how they will cope with what the cancer will do to him.

I think I might have made the same decision as the judge.

[BridgeTheGap]

5. My brother died when he was 21. He had leukemia and was being treated with chemo.

Shortly before he died, a ran into an intern I knew who was working in ICU where my brother was.
She told me that he wasn't going to make it. She also told me that it was the chemo that was getting him, not the leukemia. His immune system was so low from the chemo and a fungus invaded his body, destroying his major organs.
I also knew a pathologist once and he told me that under no circumstances would he ever have chemo. Ironically, he died from cancer.

[dflprincess]

10. And when she was around 20 one of my cousins had Hodgkin's lymphoma

and went with conventonial therapies - and this was back when the odds weren't as good as this boy has. The therapy made her terribly ill and she thought about quitting it, but it did the job. She's turning 50 this year.

[BridgeTheGap]

14. Good for her! 95% is a pretty hard number to argue against. n.t

[sharp_stick]

7. He's in MN

and he's 13. If he doesn't have health insurance from his fundie parents he is covered by Minnesotacare.

[dflprincess]

8. His parents aren't fundies

they follow a Native American religion (though they are not Native Americans).

[sharp_stick]

9. Not all fundies are Christian

I put anybody that would allow their kid to die when he doesn't have to because of religion in that camp.

[dflprincess]

12. Got it.

Personally, I think they're just nuts. I've known people who follow their traditional religions, but I've never known any of them to forgo modern medical treatment, though they might use it with traditional remedies. Using both methods makes sense to me.

[sharp_stick]

16. Perhaps they aren't fundies... Is this true?

I just read a thing on cbs.com and they had this near the end.

"Nemenhah was founded in the 1990s by Philip Cloudpiler Landis, who said Thursday he once served four months in prison in Idaho for fraud related to advocating natural remedies"

Starting to sound more like a cult, could it be?

on edit: my usual typos.

[uppityperson]

18. Wannabe Tribe people

[dflprincess]

21. It is.

In the article in the Minneapolis paper last week they were trying to make it sound like they were following a Native American religion (not that those beliefs couldn't be perverted into a cult) but the implication was it was very old and tradition belief.

Methinks the judge may have heard more about just what their religion is and where it came from and gotten a tad skeptical.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sharp_stick]

25. Ah please

at least try to get the point of the thread. Chemo saves more lives than you probably realize.

And it's not necessarily Liberal, just Democratic. Even Blue Dogs are welcome here although they get a lot of grief.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[NickB79]

15. Funny. When I think what I would do to save my child's life, money would not be a factor

I'd sooner sell everything I have and live out of my friend's basement than allow my child to die of cancer because it was too expensive.

[ixion]

20. I'm not saying that most people wouldn't, just that

a judge forcing someone to do so seems invasive to me.

[mainegreen]

2. Good.

:flame suit on:

[Liberal Veteran]

4. No flames from me.

[sharp_stick]

6. Agreed

this kid has a good shot at life if he goes through with it. Following "natural remedies" is just as bad as faith healing and likely would have similar results - a planted kid that didn't need to die.

[tabatha]

11. Not necessarily true.

I know someone with incurable cancer who had changed physicians from one more on the chemo side to one more on the nutrition side, and the cancer sufferer is doing very well - surprisingly so.

[sharp_stick]

13. An incurable cancer is different than Hodgkins lymphoma

Chemo for an incurable cancer is doing nothing more than prolonging life. Some people find they want that but others, probably most, if my word of mouth sources are to be believed, find they would rather not.

When stopping chemo you do feel better, a lot better. Chemo is designed to kill your own cells and even though it's a lot easier now than it was when I was doing an oncology rotation it's not pleasant at all. I never wanted to be an oncologist but that rotation sealed the deal for me, cancer is evil.

Hodgkins lymphoma is very treatable however, especially in a younger patient. This boy will die without the treatment, there are no natural remedies for it. With the proper treatment, he's going to be OK.

The guy that this family is following has done time for selling his "natural remedies" in the past. As far as I can tell I think he's a snake oil salesman.

[BridgeTheGap]

17. If you're going to have chemo, prepping the body is important...pot helps with appetite afterward.

A holistic doctor told me that people on chemo would fair better if they really juiced up their nutritional intake, particularly minerals, beforehand.
I mentioned my brother dying from chemo when he was being treated for leukemia. After starting chemo, he had not eaten for 3 days. He asked for some pot to smoke, which someone got for him.
Within 10 minutes after smoking (vaporizing now recommended)he ordered a burger, fries and shake, snarfed it all down with now problem.

[sharp_stick]

19. Absolutely

That kind of advice isn't limited to holistic medicine. The healthier you are going into chemo the better you will handle the chemo. Good nutrition and balance are very very important.

Pot can really help chemo patients too, it's well known as an effective counter to the nausea caused by many chemo regimens. There are pills available containing THC but I don't think they work as well as smoking weed does.

I have heard of many oncologists that don't do much to dissuade their patients from finding some good local supplies.

[Dorian Gray]

22. Good

Maybe he'll have a chance now.

[GoneOffShore]

24. Hooray - I heard this earlier today over at PZ Myers blog

Pharyngula on Science Blogs - a place I hang out when the fumes of woo get too thick here.

[groovedaddy]

27. "when the fumes of woo get too thick here..." Kind of like an asylum of sorts? n.t

[GoneOffShore]

29. Absolutely - and woo is dealt with summarily.

It's laughed at, without mercy.

[mzmolly]

26. I hope this child will get whatever help he needs.

Perhaps they will find a helpful middle ground?

Dr. Bruce Bostrom, a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota who diagnosed Daniel’s cancer in January, said he would have a hard time forcing Daniel to take the medicine.

Bostrom said if an X-ray shows that there is still hope Daniel can be cured, it’s possible doctors will recommend the same treatment plan.

Fear of chemotherapy is common among cancer patients, and Children’s Hospital has a program that incorporates herbal supplements, massage, acupuncture, and other alternative methods to help patients deal with the side effects of the medication. It’s unclear where Daniel will seek treatment.

“The bottom line is we just want to get through this, have him get better,” Bostrom said. “And I’m happy the judge ruled that he could stay with his family because they are wonderful people ... We want what’s best for Danny.”

[YewNork]

28. Can they afford it

I wonder what the judge would say if they couldn't afford to treat him.

[BridgeTheGap]

30. Arrest ordered for mom of boy, 13, resisting chemo

NEW ULM, Minn. — Authorities nationwide are on the lookout for a mother and her 13-year-old cancer-stricken son who fled after refusing the chemotherapy that doctors say could save the boy's life.
Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma, apparently left their southern Minnesota home sometime after a Monday doctor's appointment and X-ray showed his tumor had grown.

Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Colleen Hauser and ruled her in contempt of court. Rodenberg also ordered that Daniel be placed in foster care and immediately evaluated by a cancer specialist for treatment.

The boy's father, Anthony Hauser, testified he didn't know where his wife and son were but has made no attempt to find them. He testified he last saw his son Monday morning, and he saw his wife only briefly that evening when she said she was leaving "for a time."

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=courier-journal&sParam=30790469.story

[mizz pibb]

31. This is getting to be frightening...Phama really, really wants every last one of us!

Shills, come out and screetch! You're getting paid, after all...:rofl: