My body my ass!
A judge ruled Friday that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family’s attorney said.
The judge also found that Starchild Abraham Cherrix’s parents were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a clinic in Mexico, lawyer John Stepanovich said.
Update: The judge changed his mind and lifted the order. There will still be a trial on the same issue, so it’s not over yet.
“I want to caution all parents of Virginia: Look out, because Social Services may be pounding on your door next when they disagree with the decision you’ve made about the health care of your child,” Stepanovich said.
Tough call…
If they were trying to use “crystals & aromatherapy” to cure him – or other “faith-based” cures – it would be much easier to side with the judge.
I would need to know more about this “clinic” in Mexico to make a decision as to which side of this particular case I am on.
This is similar to a teenaged girl in Alberta who was being forced to do a bone marrow treatment… she didn’t do so because she is a Jehovah’s Witness.
I’m pretty sure she’s dead now.
I’ve said this for a long long time now. Americans do not own anything! You don’t own your car, your home, your possessions, or your life. The consititution is on a roll right next to your toilet. You and all the things you use are owned by the government and will be used to the government’s satisfaction, not yours. The next frontier? Forcing people to quit smoking tobacco in their own homes. It’s coming, folks. Just watch out for John Banzhaf and the other commie dirtballs out there.
The Hoxsey treatment is no better than “crystals or aromatherapy.” There is no evidence that it works, even though practitioners at the clinic where Abraham is going claim an 80% cure rate without any scientific or clinical trial evidence to support such a wildly optimistic claim.
In this case, I reluctantly side with the judge.
It seems like a religious argument would work for this stuff on its own. What they need is a traditional doctor that will support them. I have heard of people getting waivers so they don’t need vaccinations for their children but cancer is probably harder to get support for.
Anyone who would name their kid “Starchild Abraham” obviously can’t be trusted to make this kind of judgment.
The key culprit here is the doctor who started the issue with the court. Why the media does not report his/her name? Social services and the judge are just the second line in this … By the way, I heard radio-interview with the victim which included supporters, long term cancer survivors who have used the same alternative treatment. Although anegdotal, their examples support the possibility that the non-traditional treatment may have some validity.
I think it should be based on the success rate of the traditional treatments. If it is shown that the trad. treatments have a high succes rate then using alternative methods are a decision based on prejudice toward them. If in a case where the standard treatment doesn’t give a great chance (70% or more) of long term survival THEN it’s up to you what you want to do to treat your disease. I’d like to know what kind of cancer he has. My grandfather died of some kind of glandular cancer in 1973. His kind of cancer is now 90-95% treatable.
W
P.S. Is the state going to pay for the FORCED treatment? I mean totally FREE!!!
With children, there are laws in effect in most countries that place the government of that country as the ultimate authority as to children’s health-care options. Thus, the right to choose therapies in an emergency may be taken away from the family. With Jehovah’s Witness state and federal law may impose limitations on the ability to withhold or withdraw blood transfusions or blood therapy from minors, particularly in life-threatening situations. The only difference is the question of mature minor status.
The mature minor principle is based on the British Common Law, which places a level of responsibility for making decisions on adolescents from 14 years of age, and up. This is also the principle that is invoked when a minor is tried as an adult for committing criminal acts. The decision for declaring mature minor status to an adolescent varies from place to place; however, it is typically granted only to those who can readily express their wishes in a grown-up manner. Children cannot do this unless they fully understand the issues involved and can express themselves clearly.
While physicians and Social Services may voice concerns about ethics or liability, courts have stressed the supremacy of patient choice. For example, Jehovah’s Witness have led the way in legal battles supporting patient’s rights. As physicians differ in their advice, so patients or parents differ as to what they feel is best. Such is an understood feature of making informed (risk/benefit) choices. Reading this article and others on Abraham Cherrix, even at age 16, in my view he appears to be making a mature decision of his own medical choice. No matter the outcome the government is doing a disservice forcing treatment on an individual that clearly wants to try an alternate method to traditional cancer treatment.
Interesting that the article doesn’t mention the name of the clinic in Mexico. I have heard of one called Oasis of Hope http://www.oasisofhope.com that uses alternative treatments for cancer. In fact their home page has a testimonial of a 19 year old boy who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease at 10 years old. He is now cancer free. I can understand why this family would want to persue similar treatment.
Can’t they say they don’t have medical insurance?
-From Canada.
4. “The Hoxsey treatment is no better than “crystals or aromatherapy.””
I’m going to have to take your side on this one because I know a woman whose father went to Mexico for a cancer cure and now he’s dead. Of course, he went through all the traditional therapy first. The Mexico trip was a last resort. I guess they can file him under the 20% that it didn’t work for.
my goodness, you all can’t believe that the “medical” cancer treatments have a better cure rate than anything else. The kid has Hodgekins, and he’s already DONE chemo. It put the disease in a few month “remission”, now he wants to try something else.
Duh!
I’ve seen what Chemo and radiation therapy do to a person. It’s ugly. Can we say rectal explosions in the middle uncontrollable vomiting! It saps the strength and lowers the quality of life. Chemo is a poison. Radiation drys out the skin, causes all kinds of weird side effects, and can make a person so tired that they sleep all day and night after the treatment (that’s usually daily). It’s like one long bout of the flu.
And, the sad truth…most people I know who went through those ordeals..aren’t alive 3 years later, usually not even 2 years later, and often not even a year. So, I can’t say the “traditional” therapy is better than the “alternative” one. There IS a lot to be said about the so-called placebo effect. If the kid THINKS it’s helping….it may help him way more than the forced intervention.
I don’t think any of us, or a judge, should make a decision for him. There is nothing more precious than HOPE…and if it gives him hope and some happiness….then let him make the choice for himself.
Maybe this is one of those Laetrile clinics?
#8 Read the article. It was a social worker who took them to court, not a doctor.
Absent any evidence that this treatment in Mexico works, then MAYBE the parents deserve to get in some hot water. It’s just a shame that this kid is not being allowed a say in all of this. Ordering him to undergo treatment that he does not want is unjust.
Some appropriate quotes taken from “The Third Strike” a book about childhood cancer:
“There are many ways to arrange statistics to make them favorable to a particular method”. . . Dr. Ralph W. Moss
“When you (the parent) are faced with the situation (of your child dying) you have to decide what you and your child need. No one can make decisions for you.” . . Adams and Deveau (Coping With Childhood Cancer)
And the one I think is most appropriate:
“The guest will judge better of a feast than the cook.” . . . Aristotle
http://www.booklocker.com/books/1285.html
I know of people who have died in the U.S. even though they took Chemo at respectable hospitals. It’s beside the point of the argument. I can’t help to think your missing the point, it’s really not about the treatment, it’s about the patient’s choice. You don’t want to live under a government that can take that choice away so easily. His choice may not be the one you prefer but it’s his choice not yours or the governments.
The cure rate of mainstream medical treatment for the kind of cancer ‘Starchild’ has is 80 percent with a five-year threshold. The cure rate of alternative medicine treatment for the cancer is zero with a threshold of forever. The boy babbles the same mindless nonsense as his parents. Prayer and vitamins have never cured anyone of anything. I am glad that the judge had the nerve required to take charge. With real medical treatment, ‘Starchild’ has a reasonably good chance of surviving and living to a ripe old age.
Podestra
He’s already gone through a round of chemo that only put the disease in remission for a few months. And, the fancy cancer talk of an “80 percent with a five-year threshold” means….what? (fyi, I found survival rates ranging from 62% to 78%, but couldn’t find your 80%) In cancer statistics talk it means that with treatment (and this might be constant treatment) it means life will be keep going for 5 years….right? But, the long term survival after five years is what? Have there been any studies on long-term survival into adulthood? Let’s also remember, this count started from the FIRST time he’s had chemo, so at this point…he only has 4 more years to go? I see a lot of fancy math, but not a lot of hard numbers. And, how many adults have you met who were survivors of childhood lymphoma and ARE still in remission? Keep in mind, a former childhood Hodgkins patient has a high chance of developing a secondary health issue (most commonly a breast cancer or cardiac problem). If they die from that other issue, it’s not counted as a hodgkins related death. So, it’s unknown how long life will continue AFTER the 5 year rate, assuming the kid gets to the 5 year point. (And, of course, he may get hit by a bus on his way to the hospital to get chemo.)
There are NO guarantees. It’s cancer treatment. It’s life. I’d guess that since the kid has already gone through a round of chemo, that the next round will be in a higher dose, one high enough to cause the bone marrow to die…so they’ll need to take out the marrow (for an autologous transplant, or do the President’s dreaded “stem cell” stuff). In the meantime he’s in lockdown in a sterile hospital ward…and sicker than anyone can ever imagine being. With limited visitors, and unable to even go outdoors or feel the sunlight on his back. (This takes months, not weeks, by the way.) And, after that they’ll do a round of radiation therapy. So, year two of survival will be all in cancer treatment. And, if that still doesn’t work? Then another round? Keep pounding him with chemo and radiation until he dies or until he “responds” and again goes into remission? There is still 30% chance he won’t make it…..meaning out of 100 patients, 30 will die.
So, what if the kid opted for a clinical drug study? Would that be different than his “crystals and incense” route? Drug studies give out placebo to some of the patients, so they effectively get NO treatment…so it’s all a crap shoot, isn’t it?
Look, honestly, if it were my kid…I’d have to take into account his wishes…and what he could take. Some kids just do not do well with hospitals and the endless probing, the intense boredom, and the stresses of medical intervention.
Life IS TERMINAL, it’s all about how you live it. In this case he is not being allowed to live the life he wants to pursue.
What it comes down to: is quantity of life is more important than quality of life?
I can’t help but think that many of the people who are in favor of this judge are missing the point. This is not a naïve 13 year old, who is too dumb to make decisions about his or her life. This is a 16 year old, who by all reports is not insane or mentally disabled. Bearing those facts, this kid should have the right to make a decision like this about his or her own life.
It frankly doesn’t matter if this kid was not going to even seek any treatment in the future and just let the disease run its course, as long as he understands the ramifications of that decision it is not the states responsibility to protect this kid from himself.
Sure thanks to this judge, the kid may just survive for a little longer, but I fear we as a nation have lost something much more important.
If we think about it for a moment. If a kid is allowed to continue with his organic treatment and later on dies of cancer, there will be those parents who *may* sue the social worker, hospital, goverment and everyone else in line for not taking a pro-active stance.
So the social worker in a pre-emptive step, or out of geniune concern, takes the appropriate steps. I am inclined to believe that he can advice or recommend to the judge on the appropriate course of action, but the judge or medical board has the final judgement.
The judge makes the ruling to take chemo-therapy, for if not, he is on the line. And the rest follows suit.
It’s sad, but true. If those on the line or making the decision, are liable for a lawsuit under practically any circumstances, why should they exercise their common sense and go through the hassle? Why not just do all due diligence, and let the system take care of itself?
So if the judge and government force him to take the treatment and he still dies from it, wouldn’t then they be liable for a lawsuit since they forced the treatment and he still died while he was wanting to do an alternative treatment that might have worked (not saying it would, but there is always the chance it could however small)?
I’ll take alternative treatment over chemo, surgery, and radiation (aka poison, slash, and burn) any day. One of the original signers and only MD to sign the constitution (Benjamin Rush) feared that with the lack of constitutionally protected medical freedom would come a medical dictatorship. Unfortunately his words have been proven true.
The choice to use an option medicine cure for cancer demands courage in the outset. When you’re initial told you have cancer it can be like stepping into an elevator shaft – your entire life can really feel like it is going into totally free fall. And when you are told by your oncologist or consulting surgeon and you need to have surgery your initial impulse may be “Let’s get done rapidly so I can get on with life after cancer.” This was accurate of my partner. Even though she regularly used alternative medicine the lure of the instant repair that surgery for her breast cancer appeared to provide was enticing.