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MN Mom Flees With Son To Avoid Chemo & Having Her Son Taken Away
- May 20, 2009 at 2:54 PM
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- Comments (11) Total Views (311) Everyone can see this journal post.
Father urges mom and sick boy to come back
(CNN) -- The father of a 13-year-old boy whose family has refused treatment for his cancer is urging his son and wife to come back, after neither of them showed up for a court appearance.
A Minnesota judge issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for the mother of Daniel Hauser after she and the boy did not attend a court hearing. A judge had scheduled the hearing to review an X-ray ordered by the court to assess whether the boy's Hodgkin's lymphoma was worsening.
The boy's father, Anthony Hauser, testified at the hearing that he last saw his wife at the family's farm on Monday night, when she told him she was going to leave "for a time."
He later told a reporter that he would like his wife and son to return.
"I'd like to tell them, you know, 'Come back and be safe and be a family again,' " he said. "That's what I'd like to tell them." 
Watch father urge the pair to come back »
District Judge John R. Rodenberg of Brown County, Minnesota, said that the boy's "best interests" require him to receive medical care. His family opposes the proposed course of treatment, which includes chemotherapy.
"It is imperative that Daniel receive the attention of an oncologist as soon as possible," the judge wrote.
During the hearing, Dr. James Joyce testified that he saw the boy and his mother on Monday at his office. He said the boy had "an enlarged lymph node" near his right clavicle and that the X-ray showed "significant worsening" of a mass in his chest.
In addition, the boy complained of "extreme pain" at the site where a port had been inserted to deliver an initial round of chemotherapy. The pain was "most likely caused by the tumor or mass pressing on the port," testified Joyce, who called the X-ray "fairly dramatic" evidence that the cancer was worsening. Watch CNN's Dr. Gupta discuss Daniel's chances »
Rodenberg ordered custody of the boy transferred to Brown County Family Services and issued a contempt order for the mother.
A call to the family's home in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, was not immediately returned.
Philip Elbert, Daniel's court-appointed attorney, said he considers his client to have a "diminished capacity" because of his age and the illness and believes Daniel should be treated by a cancer specialist.
Elbert added that he does not believe Daniel -- who, according to court papers, cannot read -- has enough information to make an informed decision regarding his treatment.
Daniel's symptoms of persistent cough, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes were diagnosed in January as Hodgkin's lymphoma. In February, the cancer responded well to an initial round of chemotherapy, but the treatment's side effects concerned the boy's parents, who then opted not to pursue further chemo and instead sought out other medical opinions.
Court documents show that the doctors estimated the boy's chance of five-year remission with more chemotherapy and possibly radiation at 80 percent to 95 percent.
But the family opted for a holistic medical treatment based upon Native American healing practices called Nemenhah and rejected further treatment.
In a written statement issued last week, an attorney for the parents said they "believe that the injection of chemotherapy into Danny Hauser amounts to an assault upon his body, and torture when it occurs over a long period of time."
Medical ethicists say parents generally have a legal right to make decisions for their children, but there is a limit.
"You have a right, but not an open-ended right," Arthur Caplan, director of the center for bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, told CNN last week. "You can't compromise the life of your child."
Comments:
I want to help her! Go mom I would do the same thing. How do we reach them?
bump
Medical ethicists say parents generally have a legal right to make decisions for their children, but there is a limit.
I am not comfortable with this statement. WHO gets to decide what decisions I can and cannot make?
Honestly, I'm going to side AGAINST the parents on this one.... Without treatment the boy (who, by the way, can't even READ at 13, doesn't anybody see a problem with that?) is going to die. How on earth can you think the parents are acting "in his best interest"? I'm sorry, but as a mother, I would do ANYTHING to get my child better. I don't understand why this mother feels differently...
Do I believe the government should interfere with how parents raise their child? No, not usually. But when they are endangering a child's life, or preventing a child from getting the best medical treatment, you bet your behind I have no problem with that, sorry.
Reply to Anouck:
He is unable to read because of the amount of schooling he has missed dealing with this illness. It's not "poor parenting" that he can't read. Hell, I know people in their 20's & 30's and can't read. Another reason for not wanting Chemo is due to their religious beliefs and the fact that they opt to use Alternative Medicine & Natural Healing Methods. (BTW, there is NOTHING wrong with that - to each their own) However, their Dr. finally convinced them to do the Chemo. Afterwards he got very sick from the treatment and suffered through many of the common side effects. The parents and Daniel (the son) decided and chose that they weren't going to go through that again. And all of a sudden that's wrong!?!?! If I was diagnosed with cancer and denied Chemo Therapy there wouldn't be a damn thing anyone could or would do about it.... And why? Because I'm an adult? It's not like I'm 90 yrs old and have lived my life. Yes, I understand that he's only 13, but I really think that being his age he should be able to have a say in his treatment. And another thing where are his civil rights and those of his parents? Oh, maybe it just doesn't matter because everyone knows far better than the child going through the illness and the painful treatments and better than his parents that have raised him the past 13 years and seen him through his illness. Where was the judge, the courts, family services and everyone else during those times?
Another reason he can not read is that he has learning disabilities. My child is 14 years old and up till last year I did not think she could read either. As far as the mom : She is on the run because she thinks she is doing the right thing to save her child. In America our country believes in making money, not curing. She is headed for Mexico she is in La, but they know where she is they are suppose to pick them up today (god I hope not).. In Tj is one of the top leading doctors for curing cancer. There are so many clinics that cure you cheap. She is doing the exact thing I would do.
neonds13, I understand what you're saying, but I'm still going to disagree with you. If this was a case where chemo would only delay the inevitable, I'd say fine, the boy has a right to choose to end his life sooner rather than later. But as far as I'm concerned, the mother is basically KILLING her son by not allowing the chemo. He has an excellent chance of being cured with the chemo, whereas the holistic stuff his mom used on him didn't do anything. Matter of fact, the tumor GREW! As for him not being able to read, having learning disabilities etc, to me that only means he's NOT capable of making a decision on his own when it comes to his health. Of course he doesn't want to feel sick, no kid would want that. But I believe his parents SHOULD be able to look at the long term results, and do whatever gives him the best chance of being cured and living a normal life. And they're not doing that. So yes, I believe the courts did the right thing by stepping in. Sorry.
And for the record, he was diagnosed less than a year ago. So to say that he can't read because of all the school he missed because of his illness doesn't make much sense to me. Most kids learn how to read well before they turn 13.
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PLEASE VOTE POPULAR & BUMP!!!!
AND BY THE WAY - I THINK WHAT THIS MOM IS DOING IS AWESOME!!!! I WOULD DO THE SAME THING IF IT WERE MY SON AND HE WAS AT AN AGE TO ALSO MAKE A DECISION ABOUT HIS LIFE & TREATMENT OPTIONS!!! I THINK THE COURT REMOVING HIM FROM THE HOME IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!! AS LONG AS IT WAS IN THE BEST INTEREST FOR MY CHILD - NO ONE WOULD EVER FORCE ME TO PUT HARMFUL TOXINS IN MY CHILDS SYSTEM & MAKE THEM SICKER & FEEL WORSE!!! PARENTAL RIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE SLOWLY DISAPPEARING & IT'S NOT RIGHT!!! MY CHILD - MY CHOICE - OUR LIVES!!!!
TO THE MOM & HER SON:
KEEP ON FIGHTING!!! I'M ON YOUR SIDE AND SO ARE MANY OTHERS!!! YOU ROCK!!!!
- neonds13
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