Doctors vs. parents: Can parents refuse chemo treatment for son?

Any parent who would risk their child's life based on superstition should be ruled unfit by the court.

Giving the power to the state to force a treatment onto a child is unsettling to me.

Because the majority of a society & science believe a certain treatment to be right (in this case, sure I would give my kid the chemo, but that's not the point), does not mean that government should take away the right of the child and the parents to give that treatment.

This is a power that could be grossly abused. We've seen science manipulated before as an excuse for government to take away the rights of others (Eugenics in Nazi Germany), and I fear a government that can use popular opinion to force me or my children to do anything.

This is what killed John Travolta's son. The boy wasn't allowed to take anti-seizure medication because of the religion his father belonged to. Scientologists are 100% completely against taking any kind of drugs because the flying saucer won't stop by and pick them up if they do.

It might be why Christopher Reeve was allowed to die because stem cell research has been banned by the religious right for so many years.

Ah, organized religion. It will save us all.

I'm really glad that we've solved all other problems in MN so we can waste state money on this case.

If the kid wanted to be treated, or the parents wanted it and the kid didn't, it would be a different story. But the state doesn't have the right to interfere in religious affairs. What "compelling state interest" do we have in making someone violate their religion? Will that make him a more productive citizen? How -exactly- will making parents and a 13-year-old boy feel oppressed, angry, violated and vengeful improve our state?

Emmy says:

"But the state doesn't have the right to interfere in religious affairs."

Or something similar to the Terry Schiavo case. Then the state must and needs to get involved.

This situation where a kid is denied life saving medication because his folks are religious freaks, that's different story.

No wonder you guys got booted out of Washington. Fucking retards.

Our founding fathers, many of whom sought refuge from religious persecution, came to our country with open minds and collaborated to write our Constitution. Within that they laid the founding principles of which our government would stand by of which included the freedom of religion.

This family has and continues to struggle with very difficult choices. Personally, my beliefs and morals would not allow me to come to the decision they have. But, that is neither here nor there.

I do not believe that this family wishes for their child to die. But, within their belief system and within their religious views they are now faced with a major moral dilemma. Do I do what I feel is right and just or do I do what doctors and Western medicine has told me what to do?

How would you feel if the majority forced you to conform to their beliefs? How would you feel if all of the sudden your freedom of religion in the U.S. was gone and the courts could decide the fate of you and your family?

There are "belief systems" and then there is reality. I'd wager 90% of people out there believe that if lightning strikes them that their rubber soled shoes will protect them. FYI, it won't.

Given the scientific facts that if you rely on your religion to cure you in this case, you will die 95% of the time, or you take this medication and you will live 95% of the time, I think most reasonable people would choose to live.

These are not reasonable people. You can not make them understand. It's not the government's place or right to make them understand. Their child will die, and they will not learn the lesson.

Call it natural selection.

It's the family's business and not the states. The government has no right in the affairs of a personal matter in this family. If they don't believe in the poison than that is their business. Nobody has a right to judge anyone for exercising their religious beliefs. It is called tyranny when the government steps in and forces medical decisions on a child against both his and his parents will. No one has a right to judge anyone based on their beliefs. People should just mind their own damned business and get a life!

The remark "refusing treatment" is NOT accurate - they were doing natural or alternative treatments, which I also believe to be the most safe and effective! What's so special about "buring" (radiation) or poisoning (chemo).I've seen MANY people die OF these so called "treatments" Personally I'd never have either one of them. I have seen countless people completely recover from using natural, safe and very effective products.

Chemotherapy & radiation treatments have never been subjected to rigorous scientific testing, nor will they be. Those treatments themselves are based on faulty science!

Where will medical & government interfernece end? Compulsory vaccines is another agenda the medical establishment is pushing.
Dr Robert Mendelsohn was right- modern medicine is the new religion! Worship or go to hell!

Dr Greg Fitzgerald.

Leave these parents and their child alone!! I WAS an oncology nurse and my experiences have proved to me that most of the time the cancer comes back and the treatment is so horrific that it puts tremendous stress on every body system. This is a young child with a long life ahead. Stop creating more stress on this child and his family. Alternative therapies can be the best method of action when one changes their lifestyle as well. I suggest primarily a plant based diet with lots of raw and living vegetables (green), fruits, sprouts, nuts and seeds. You cannot strengthen the immune system by poisoning the body and feeding it refined and processed foods of any kind - this is dead food which eventually always brings about dis-ease. The right alternative, or what we should call natural therapies, and a raw and living lifestyle with WHOLE foods is the way to go. I have seen miracles when our bodies are given what our creator has provided to us - not something manipulated in a laboratory. Our bodies CAN heal when provided with the right tools filled with life force, oxygen, and mineral. But with toxins and poisons, there will always be a battle due to never going beyond the symptoms. The terrain must change - not just slapped with a conventional band-aide.

Just because the media or the medical community says that Chemotherapy saves 95% of the time, doesn't make it the truth. These figures come from the drug makers and are all lies. Do you know how much money is being made from all of these so-called "medical treatments"? Big Pharma makes no money if people simply choose natural remedies for their illnesses. They are involved in causing these conflicts in the courts to change the way the population thinks. The goal is to get people to think it's a crime to not use medication to "cure" people. It's not even a religious issue. It's Big Pharma vs. Natural Alternatives. Sometimes the only way people can fight Big Pharma and the courts is to claim religious exemption. It's also the only way to avoid vaccines in some states. If you really want to know what is going on then start to research Population Reduction. Yes, it's real and it's here in the US. The goal is to kill people through medication...not cure them. Those who choose natural remedies are trying to stay alive!! People...WAKE UP!!!

I too have worked as an oncology nurse and here is the citation for a study that shows toxic chemotherapy cures cancer at 2.1% rate. Hodgkins patients end up getting secondary cancers/leukemia from their treatment later. People should be free to choose what treatments they want to have, they have to live with any consequences, not the court or anyone else. The medical system is the leading cause of death based on infection rates, adverse reactions to medications, procedures and human error. No one bats an eye that people are killed every day, if a natural therapy fails everyone says the government needs to force traditional medicine down someone's throat. There track record for curing disease is dismal at best.

sorry here's the citation to the study,Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol). 2005 Jun;17(4):294.

There is a big difference between being an "unfit" parent and a parent educated and informed about alternative medical choices. Modern Conventional Western Medicine would have us believe that Radiation and Chemotherapy are the ONLY way to "cure" cancer. However if one does the research, there is a wealth of information written by doctors/researches that shows many other less poisionous ways of dealing with cancer. For starters, read: A World w/o Cancer; Cancer is not a disease--it's a survival mechanism; Natural Stratagies for Cancer Patients; Malignant Medical Myths; and Into the Light. In this particular case, the child in question agrees with his parents and is old enough to have a say in what happens to his body. Personally, I am sick and tired of the government trying to impose their laws on my body: from vaccinations to allowing MSG and aspertame in our foods and flame retardants in our mattresses and clothing (we have smoke detectors--no chemicals needed). There is a wonderful alternative cancer treatment center in Mexico called, "Oasis of Hope." I have heard many people's stories about being brought back from the brink of death from every type of cancer. The most critical thing about their success is--the sooner you get there, the better. Most people try the radiation/chemotherapy first and then try Oasis of Hope as a last chance effort to save their life. However, once the body and its organs have been damaged and weakened by the radiation/chemotherapy, it makes it harder for the natural remedies to work. Contrary to popular belief, cancer is not a death sentence. Protect your health by doing the research and being informed.

There is a big difference between being an "unfit" parent and a parent educated and informed about alternative medical choices. Modern Conventional Western Medicine would have us believe that Radiation and Chemotherapy are the ONLY way to "cure" cancer. However if one does the research, there is a wealth of information written by doctors/researches that shows many other less poisionous ways of dealing with cancer. For starters, read: A World w/o Cancer; Cancer is not a disease--it's a survival mechanism; Natural Stratagies for Cancer Patients; Malignant Medical Myths; and Into the Light. In this particular case, the child in question agrees with his parents and is old enough to have a say in what happens to his body. Personally, I am sick and tired of the government trying to impose their laws on my body: from vaccinations to allowing MSG and aspertame in our foods and flame retardants in our mattresses and clothing (we have smoke detectors--no chemicals needed). There is a wonderful alternative cancer treatment center in Mexico called, "Oasis of Hope." I have heard many people's stories about being brought back from the brink of death from every type of cancer. The most critical thing about their success is--the sooner you get there, the better. Most people try the radiation/chemotherapy first and then try Oasis of Hope as a last chance effort to save their life. However, once the body and its organs have been damaged and weakened by the radiation/chemotherapy, it makes it harder for the natural remedies to work. Contrary to popular belief, cancer is not a death sentence. Protect your health by doing the research and being informed.

I can't believe that the anyone would try to overstep a parents a right of decision making for their own child. The sad part is, they are saying it's for "religious beliefs," because that's their only argument! They are probably apart of the small percentage of American who believe BIG PHARMA is a deadly killer. I pray they get a SMART Judge who has done research on Chemo/Vaccines/Pharma sales...

It's sad to see the plight of this poor kid. His parents are idiots and are trying thier best to raise him to be the same. They should be locked up in a lunatic asylum. Not vaccinating youre children and refusing them the best proven care when thier sick should be a criminal offense.

Freedom of choice is the most basic freedom the individual has.

Any state denying this most basic and inalienable right can only be classed as despotic.

Should the court rule against the boy's choice - then it's the thin edge of the wedge to infringe on other choices citizens take for granted.

I seriously question the supposed 95% success rate of Chemo. I believe it is far less than this. I recall it being about 50% and remissions are not out of the question.

Alternatives are not only reasonable, they are often effective with plenty of facts to back this up. Why are alternatives being lied about and belittled? Go to lef.org or mercola.com or healthtruthrevealed.com.

What is really at work here is a medical union and the courts/government applying a phony agenda to deprive us of reasonable choices in medical treatment with us deciding what medical treatments are good or not.

In addition, no one is addressing the pain and quality of life issues this boy will have to endure and the long term effect of Chemo, which no one is mentioning. None dare call it conspiracy but I do!

Itis sad but yes the State can if you went and got a marrage license. Once you do that you have a three party contract with the State. God doesn't require that.

Paul- you're just another frog in boiling water and going along withe the "flow" of society! That's the problem with this Nation, is the majority think Doctors are the most amazing things on this earth! You know most doctors don't even vaccinate their own children?

Thin of this....why won't a Vet touch a puppy for shots until 6 weeks, but a new born baby gets Hep B minutes after being born?

The state has no right to force anyone to submit to any medical procedure. If anyone would have tried to interfere in my affairs when my kids were living with me even God wouln't have been able to save the bastards.

Julie Grimstad, Executive Director of 'Life is Worth Living, Inc.,' explained in an interview with this writer the very important differences between 'ordinary' and 'extra-ordinary' means:

"What constitutes "ordinary" (obligatory) and "extra-ordinary" (optional) medical means varies with the individual circumstances. The same means could be judged ordinary in one situation and extra-ordinary in another. For instance, a ventilator may be used temporarily to save the life of a critically injured person or it may be used to prolong the life of a dying person. In the first instance, a ventilator usually would be considered ordinary means. In the second, it usually would be considered extra-ordinary means, that is, means that could be refused. Refusal of extra-ordinary means is not a sin. "It is the physician who makes the judgment that a particular treatment is extra-ordinary under the circumstances. It must always be the patient, if capable of making medical decisions, who decides whether or not to refuse the treatment. If the patient wishes to fight for every last moment of life, that is his/her right!"[4]

Depending on the individual patient's circumstances, the degree of pain and suffering caused by the treatment, the risk involved, or the burdensomeness to the patient, examples of extra-ordinary means could include:

* Kidney dialysis
* A ventilator
* Chemotherapy
* Experimental drugs and devices
* Debilitating surgeries or drugs
* Medical treatments that exploit the patient [enticements to participate in drug trials 'for the sake of mankind' that may add pain and suffering while hastening death]
* Medical treatments that push a patient beyond their physical and psychological capacity [this list is merely illustrative, not exhaustive].

Sorry I did not say the previous. It was a quote from http://www.lifeissues.net/writers/kra/kra_26denialofnutrition.html

The family of the 13-year old needs to challenge the state, ask where the state gets their jurisdiction over them. FYI--it is because the parents obtained a license from the state to marry and that makes the state the third party in that marriage.

As for chemo--there is no proof that it has ever cured anyone of cancer. There are many cases of cancer cured by alternative, natural methods. Since that garners no money for the drug co., etc. criminals are made out of parents who are trying to save their child. Who said this was a free country??