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Judge Rules Family Can't Refuse Chemo for Boy
(Source: Associated Press)
Associated Press/AP Online
May 17, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if the boy would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over his parents’ objections.
In a 58-page ruling, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been “medically neglected” by his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, and was in need of child protection services.
While he allowed Daniel to stay with his parents, the judge gave the Hausers until Tuesday to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist.
If the evaluation shows the cancer had advanced to a point where chemotherapy and radiation would no longer help, the judge said, he would not order the boy to undergo treatment.
However, he said, if chemotherapy is ordered and the family still refuses, Daniel will be placed in temporary custody.
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.”
It was unclear how the medicine would be administered if the boy fights it. Dr. Bruce Bostrom, a pediatric oncologist at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, said last week he would have a hard time forcing Daniel to take the medicine. Bostrom said Friday his hospital has psychologists, child life specialists and other resources to help ease Daniel’s fears. He also said an ethics committee would meet next week to talk about all the scenarios doctors may encounter.
Daniel’s court-appointed attorney, Philip Elbert, called the decision unfortunate.
“I feel it’s a blow to families,” he said. “It marginalizes the decisions that parents face every day in regard to their children’s medical care. It really affirms the role that big government is better at making our decisions for us.”
Elbert said he hadn’t spoken to his client yet. The phone line at the Hauser home in Sleepy Eye in southwestern Minnesota had a busy signal Friday. The parents’ attorney had no immediate comment but planned to issue a statement.
Daniel was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and stopped chemotherapy in February after a single treatment. He and his parents opted instead for “alternative medicines” based on their religious beliefs.
dannymreed
6 months ago
14 comments
The intent to defraud related to advocating natural remedies in Idaho by Philip Cloudpiler Landis as founder of Nemenhah is in question. Was it financial gain? Or was he falsely imprisoned for four months? As for self-determination in Healthcare, I have long observed that both medical and non-medical personnel force their decisions upon others because they can. This treatment or procedure will save your life, therefore, you MUST accept it: Because we CAN do something means we SHOULD do something. The question is, Whom are in charge of your body and Why?