Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy

[Dimond]

Sucks that these rulings are becoming more frequent.


MINNEAPOLIS – A Minnesota judge has ruled that a 13-year-old boy with a highly treatable form of cancer must seek conventional medical treatment over his parents' objections.
In a 58-page ruling Friday, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" and is in need of child protection services.
Rodenberg said Daniel will stay in the custody of his parents, but Colleen and Anthony Hauser have until May 19 to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist
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."
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.
Child protection workers accused Daniel's parents of medical neglect; but in court, his mother insisted the boy wouldn't submit to chemotherapy for religious reasons and she said she wouldn't comply if the court orders it.
Doctors have said Daniel's cancer had up to a 90 percent chance of being cured with chemotherapy and radiation. Without those treatments, doctors said his chances of survival are 5 percent.
Daniel's parents have been supporting what they say is their son's decision to treat the disease with nutritional supplements and other alternative treatments favored by the Nemenhah Band.
The Missouri-based religious group believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians.
After the first chemotherapy treatment, the family said they wanted a second opinion, said Dr. Bruce Bostrom, a pediatric oncologist who recommended Daniel undergo chemotherapy and radiation.
They later informed him that Daniel would not undergo any more chemotherapy. Bostrom said Daniel's tumor shrunk after the first chemotherapy session, but X-rays show it has grown since he stopped the chemotherapy.
"My son is not in any medical danger at this point," Colleen Hauser testified at a court hearing last week. She also testified that Daniel is a medicine man and elder in the Nemenhah Band.
The family's attorney, Calvin Johnson, said Daniel made the decision himself to refuse chemotherapy, but Brown County said he did not have an understanding of what it meant to be a medicine man or an elder.
Court filings also indicated Daniel has a learning disability and can't read.
The Hausers have eight children. Colleen Hauser told the New Ulm Journal newspaper that the family's Catholicism and adherence to the Nemenhah Band are not in conflict, and that she has used natural remedies to treat illness.
Nemenhah was founded in the 1990s by Philip Cloudpiler Landis, who said Thursday he once served four months in prison in Idaho for fraud related to advocating natural remedies.
Landis said he founded the faith after facing his diagnosis of a cancer similar to Daniel Hauser. He said he treated it with diet choices, visits to a sweat lodge and other natural remedies.

[j3ff]

I have mixed feelings on things like this.

I believe in freedom, so of course feel that people should be free to live as they wish, as long as they are not harming others. This kid not taking chemo does not have the potential to harm anyone but himself. I support this kid being able to deny medical treatment.

I watched a "Law and Order" episode recently about a woman who chose not to vaccinate her child for measles. The child came down with measles and went to play in a park, where the child infected another child who was still too young to be vaccinated, and the other child died as a result. While this story was of course fictional, it presented a situation that is entirely in the realm of possibility. I oppose someone's right to deny medical treatment in a case like this, as thier actions lead to the death of another.

I am not saying I support mandatory vaccinations, but those who choose not to vaccinate against deadly communicable diseases should not be allowed to roam free in public infecting others. I think one of the detectives in the show I talked about fraised it best. "If you want to go live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, that's your business, but once you enter society, you have certain responsibilities"

[LotsaRaw]

I have mixed feelings on things like this.

I am not saying I support mandatory vaccinations, but those who choose not to vaccinate against deadly communicable diseases should not be allowed to roam free in public infecting others. I think one of the detectives in the show I talked about fraised it best. "If you want to go live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, that's your business, but once you enter society, you have certain responsibilities"

You have eloquently stated my opinion on this. I too have mixed feelings on the original post.

[j3ff]

You have eloquently stated my opinion on this. I too have mixed feelings on the original post.

Thanks

Off topic - I noticed you are in Hampton roads VA - I am in Roanoke VA - I used to live in Norfolk while I attended ODU.

[Revvell]

I oppose someone's right to deny medical treatment in a case like this, as thier actions lead to the death of another.


You don't know that. It's like when people come to me for a session and they cancel because they've got a "cold" and they don't want to "give it to me". Like they are the ONLY people I come into contact with who might have something contagious? Please! Build the immune system.

Shows like what you saw are propaganda FOR drugs as opposed to a healthy lifestyle.

[j3ff]

You don't know that. It's like when people come to me for a session and they cancel because they've got a "cold" and they don't want to "give it to me". Like they are the ONLY people I come into contact with who might have something contagious? Please! Build the immune system.

Shows like what you saw are propaganda FOR drugs as opposed to a healthy lifestyle.

No, I don't know that, but I do know that it certainly increases the risk.

For example, many people drive drunk with out hurting someone. In fact most times that people drive drunk they do not crash and kill someone. That does not mean that driving drunk does not endanger other people.

[RaeVynn]

I personally know a man who was healed completely of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (the one that normally isn't very treatable), at a Mexican cancer clinic (hmm, something like the Gerson Institute, maybe?), 30 years ago. Yup. 30 years. Never showed up again.

I recall him telling me that he did the 'grape cleanse' there. Nothing but grapes and grape juice (fresh) for a month (or, maybe more). Of course, he was at a place with medical tests, supervision, etc.

It would be nice if this family could take/send their son somewhere like that, wouldn't it?

[Revvell]

I'm confused how injecting poison into one's body doesn't increase the risk of someone being contagious. More people die from the so-called "cure" than from the disease itself. And yeah, I do know that. Check out how many died from the so-called swine flu vaccine as opposed to how many died from the disease. They'll never learn.



No, I don't know that, but I do know that it certainly increases the risk.

For example, many people drive drunk with out hurting someone. In fact most times that people drive drunk they do not crash and kill someone. That does not mean that driving drunk does not endanger other people.

Never said it did.

[lynnc72]

I wonder if the court will take responsibilities if the chemo doesn't work or there's a recurrence of cancer in the future. I think not.

If the court won't take responsibilities, then they not allowed make such decisions.

[Revvell]

Oooooh! I like that!


I wonder if the court will take responsibilities if the chemo doesn't work or there's a recurrence of cancer in the future. I think not.

If the court won't take responsibilities, then they not allowed make such decisions.

[Ilse W.]

I had Hodgkins Lymphoma, and wish I had known then what I have learned in the meantime. I would NOT have undergone chemotherapy. Chemo KILLS! Cancer cells cannot live in an oxygenated alkaline body. LOTS of GREENS and lots of fresh air will help the body get rid of the accumulated cancer cells. The problem is that most of the people who refuse chemo don't do so based on knowledge of a better alternative. Refusal based on religious belief is not an alternative to a treatment option (chemo). A judge could not that easily dismiss a different form of care, but he can insist that doing nothing based on religious beliefs is child endangerment. JMHO.

[Coolexplosion]

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/06/cherrix-turning-18-free-cancer-signs-and-court-oversight

Inspiring story about a kid in the same position that went to Mexico for the Hoxsey Cancer Treatment and was cured from the same disease.

J3ff: Measles rarely kills in a nation such as this one (even without the vaccine). Having a healthy immune system makes the chances of dying astronomical. Learn to see the thinly veiled Big Pharma attempts at selling vaccines, please.

Decisions like this that take a person's body away from them and their parents are atrocious. Something like this should be happening in a fascist society, not a free one. The government should not own a person's body. I hope they appeal and I hope in the meantime they are smart enough to go get the cancer cured so they can go back and make the judge look like the jackass that he is.

[lynnc72]

The problem is that most of the people who refuse chemo don't do so based on knowledge of a better alternative. Refusal based on religious belief is not an alternative to a treatment option (chemo). A judge could not that easily dismiss a different form of care, but he can insist that doing nothing based on religious beliefs is child endangerment. JMHO.

You're assuming that they're doing nothing and that's incorrect.

The article said that they're using natural remedies. Their religious leader cured himself from similar cancer with diet and natural remedies as well.

[j3ff]

J3ff: Measles rarely kills in a nation such as this one (even without the vaccine). Having a healthy immune system makes the chances of dying astronomical. Learn to see the thinly veiled Big Pharma attempts at selling vaccines, please.


I am not suggesting that measles are extremely dangerous, it was just a good example of what I was trying to express. All I was saying was people who choose to allow themselves to become infectious with a serious disease, have a greater responsibility in society. I would never support forcing someone to vaccinate, but at the same time, I would have no problem at all supporting a forced quarantine.

Just because some choose to take thier chances with natural cures, does not mean that those who do not should be subjected to contagious disease that is easily controlled by modern science. While some anecdotal evidence exists of natural cures working, there are also plenty of examples of people dieing as well. There is no global conspiracy to silence natural remedies, if there was, this website along with 1000's of others, would not be allowed to exist.

[Gaius]

I will never, ever let a child of mine go through chemo. I would just put him/her through intensive Gerson therapy-type treatment and let things work out on their own.

Should I ever have kids, I would ideally like to at least raise them with high raw vegan eating habits so they don't grow up to be at risk for something as silly as degenerative disease.

[Ilse W.]

Just because some choose to take thier chances with natural cures

The people who are taking chances are the ones who are going the pharmaceutical route. The only thing that CAN cure is nature (which includes your own body and the natural things you put in it).

[JennaBoBenna]

I watched a "Law and Order" episode recently about a woman who chose not to vaccinate her child for measles. The child came down with measles and went to play in a park, where the child infected another child who was still too young to be vaccinated, and the other child died as a result. While this story was of course fictional, it presented a situation that is entirely in the realm of possibility. I oppose someone's right to deny medical treatment in a case like this, as thier actions lead to the death of another.

I am not saying I support mandatory vaccinations, but those who choose not to vaccinate against deadly communicable diseases should not be allowed to roam free in public infecting others. I think one of the detectives in the show I talked about fraised it best. "If you want to go live in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, that's your business, but once you enter society, you have certain responsibilities"

Hah!, this is the exact same scenario my mother threw at me when we were talking about how I won't vaccinate my (future)children. Now I know where she got the idea from.....
My children are going to be healthy, and healthy children don't develop/"catch" dis-ease.

[Gaius]

Hah!, this is the exact same scenario my mother threw at me when we were talking about how I won't vaccinate my (future)children. Now I know where she got the idea from.....
My children are going to be healthy, and healthy children don't develop/"catch" dis-ease.
My mom saw the exact same thing and she yelled at me for that too. It really sucks when the people we know get sucked in by the propaganda.

[Colorawdo girl]

got this today in email http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFNMM1bDDK8


the opinions expressed here do not necessarily meet the opinions of one posting..simply sharing info

[LotsaRaw]

I did not subject my four-legged furry child (bassett/lab mix) to chemo when she had bone cancer (jaw) because I believed it was too much for her body. Why would I do it to a person?

[Gaius]

Chemotherapy is a disgusting practice.

[RAWmen-Noodles]

I was watching a show on Veria called the "Incurables". This show is about real peole that come on and talk about the disease they had and how the doctors told them that there was nothing that they could do about it. This one woman was diagnosed with multiple tumors in her body. She went through one chemo session and said it sucked. She then went to a Naturopath and she was giving her extremely his doses of Vit C through an IV along with some other things. She was tumor free when she went back to get her ex-rays. She also ate a raw diet after that.

[fruitandveggies]

A small update on this.


SLEEPY EYE, Minn., May 20 (UPI) -- An arrest warrant was issued for the mother of a Minnesota teen after the pair missed a court hearing on the son's fight against chemotherapy, police said.

Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, 13, have been missing from their Sleepy Eye, Minn., farm since Monday after they went to a medical appointment that indicated the son's cancer was worsening, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Wednesday.

Only the boy's father, Anthony Hauser, was in court Tuesday for the hearing called to review a court-ordered X-ray to assess whether the younger Hauser's Hodgkin's lymphoma was getting worse. The father said he didn't know the whereabouts of his wife or son.

Brown County, Minn., District Judge John Rodenberg ruled last week Daniel Hauser must receive chemotherapy even though the treatment goes against the family's spiritual beliefs and wishes. The Hausers belong to the Nemenhah, a quasi-American Indian group favoring natural remedies and opposes medicine that attacks or harms the body.

The warrant was issued so police nationwide can apprehend Colleen Hauser, Brown County Attorney James Olsen said. While she could be arrested for failing to appear in court or violating a court order, Olson said the goal of the warrant is to find the son, not punish the mother.

If Daniel Hauser is found, the judge ordered he be placed in foster care and evaluated by a cancer specialist immediately, Olson said.

During the trial, doctors testified the teen had as much as a 90 percent chance of survival with the treatment and a 95 percent chance of death without it. He received one of seven recommended rounds of chemo-therapy after his cancer was diagnosed in January, but didn't show up for the rest.

[Coolexplosion]

A small update on this.

The scary portion of a similar article is that Minnesota Police wanted to arrest the father even though he told the authorities all that he knew willingly. U.S.S.A!

[rawgreenwitch]

My youngest son was raised as a Vegetarian after nothing but breast milk for the first 6 months of his life.
We found a holistic doctor who did not even believe in the required test of babies even after his birth. He did not receive the government required immunizations. He is now 30 years old and is as healthy as an ox.
Perhaps he has been ill only 5 days total in his life.

After saying that: Here is what I believe.
That we all have rights given to us by our own higher power.
We all have a free will to select from several possible alternatives.
And no government [ although they would like you to believe that your rights were created and handed down by them] can give or take away these rights.

So I am for this family and their decision and hopefully and I pray their choice will help to heal their son with natural means such as raw foods. This is the route I would take for myself.

[gabriele]

Doesn't the fact that his tumor has reportedly returned to it's previous size mean that CHEMOTHERAPY DOES NOT WORK???

It's not a cure, it buys some time, the statistics are skewed to benefit doctors and drug companies, in my opinion.

[Shoney]

The vaccination question is nearly as interesting to me as raw foods.

I wonder about the whole movement towards government-directed parenting, but I also ache for the children who don't get the help they need. I work in social services and so many times it has been life and death situations to intervene for the sake of the child; yet where IS that line? Will the day come when individuals must obtain permission to become parents?? Something we say now could never happen, but that has been said of many things . . .

[Draginvry]

They would have to arrest me before they put that kind of crap in my body. I'm glad they skipped their court date. I hope they skipped the country.

[Gaius]

I hope they're at a Gerson clinic somewhere.