Natural dying methods: Unfit parents hide son from cancer treatment

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090520/ap_on_re_us/us_forced_chemo

Sorry if this is a D_B. I didn't see it anywhere.

I really do hate to be judgemental of parents. I know it isn't easy and what works for some of us does not work for all.

That said, this is despicable. These idiot parents have trained their 13-year-old boy to be terrified of medical science. They and he both refused to have him treated for cancer. When a judge tried to force them, the mother ran off with the boy and the father insists he doesn't know where they are.

All due respect to religious freedom, a 13-year-old boy isn't old enough to decide to die for his parents religious beliefs, and that is exactly what is happening here. If your child gets sick, you fight like hell to save him or her. You do EVERYTHING you can think of to save your child. To do anything else is a disgrace.

My best friend comes from a deeply religious family. He was about the same age as this boy when he was diagnosed with cancer. He probably would have done what this kid is doing if his parents had raised him that way. Thank G-d they have more sense, enough to help him fight for his life rather than insist that he give it up for no good reason.

Sorry but this shit really pisses me off. End of rant for now.

Edit: I went back and read the rest of the story more closely (I kinda got ticked and stopped midway through before I posted the above). Apparently the kid has a learning disability and is unable to read, so his parents are most likely his only source of information. It sounds like his chances of survival are excellent if his parents will stop acting like morons.

 

Hey, you know what? If there's a group out there that knows of non-chemo, herbal ways to cure cancer, let 'em do that. But this group's beliefs aren't curing that cancer. It grew. Get the treatments.

 

The cancer shrunk after the lone chemo treatment his parents allowed him to have.

While I think parents have the right to chose the medical treatment they feel is appropriate for their child, I also think the state has the right to charge them with murder if they don't choose a treatment that has been proven to work. I also think the state has the right to take the child away entirely if they refuse to get any treatment.

 

Yup. Hopefully, they will find this boy and his mother soon enough to do just that and save the kid's life.

 

I saw this yesterday on CNN, and couldn't believe what I was reading. I mean, if adults want to refuse medical treatment, then fine. But a 13-year-old kid is in no position to say he won't ungergo chemo. And the mother basically kidnaping him should be tossed in jail when they're found.

 

I'm sorry, but I do not want to live in a country where my belief system can be shunted to the side because Big Brother knows better for me or for my children. I ache for the kid who has to deal with cancer. I ache for his parents who are trying to do the best they can for their child. I ache for those in the medical community who want to help, but aren't being allowed to.

However, as far as I'm concerned, forcing the kid into chemotherapy in violation of the belief system he was brought up in is a First Amendment violation. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." As awful as we may think this is, I do not want to be put into a position where I'm judging the belief system of a family.

 

Sorry, these people are killing their child with their delusions. Killing him. That's not faith and love. That is neglect.

What if they were beating the shit out of him on a daily basis because their religion said it was appropriate? I'm talking brutal beatings that send him to the hospital with injuries bad enough to threaten his survival if they get any worse.

Is that an extreme example? Sure. But it fits. The only difference is that the cancer is going to be ravaging this kid's body rather than the parents doing it with their own hands.

And even if you don't buy any of that, the bottom line is the law had its say here and when it didn't go the parents' way, they chose to break it and kidnap their own child. And yes, I realize it was just the mother, but does anybody doubt that the father is in on it? At the very least, the mother belongs in jail and the boy belongs in a hospital getting the chance at life he deserves. He is only 13 and learning disabled to the point that he can't read. No way in hell he understands what mommy and daddy are doing to him.

 

There was a Law and Order episode a few years ago on the topic of parents opting against modern medicine out of religious beliefs. It is a fair legal argument, though one a judge well-schooled in the law will probably have a far easier side taking than a jury of ordinary Janes and Joes.

 

I saw something like this on one of the hospital shows, too. I think it was ER. I see that there is a legal argument, but I think it is a judgement call. To me, when in doubt, do the thing that is going to save a person's life.

 

http://news.aol.com/health/article/teen-who-fled-chemo/497263?icid=main|aimzones|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fhealth%2Farticle%2Fteen-who-fled-chemo%2F497263

Update: Mother and son are back home. The parents had to agree to let the son undergo chemo for the judge to allow the boy to stay with them. The attorneys for family services are not happy. They thought he should have been placed in foster care and suspect the family may change their minds again.

 

Brief sidebar to this story: The police official assigned to this case, Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann, is the father of Jamie Hoffmann, who was called up to the Dodgers last weekend. Rich Hoffmann was in California searching for the woman and the kid, and was able to go to Dodger Stadium to see his son's major league debut.

 

If natural remedies cured cancer, no one would have cancer.