So a poor kid has cancer...
He undergoes long, torturous treatment...
The disease abates...
Except his doctors are trying to force him, i.e. overrule his parents(!), to undergo more chemotherapy and radiation.
But the doctors wanted to give Jacob several more rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, despite the clean PET scan. When asked why they wanted to keep giving Jacob these incredibly dangerous drugs, the doctors replied that this was “the standard of care” for his illness.
Jacob’s parents begged the doctors to make an individual diagnosis, rather than simply following unbending standards. But the doctors were steadfast. All children with this cancer needed multiple rounds of these drugs—regardless of PET scan results, the doctors contended.
Jacob’s parents did extensive study of the side effects of the five different chemotherapy drugs that the doctor wanted to administer. And they believed that the risk of the drugs was far greater than the risk of recurrent cancer, since Jacob had a clean PET scan. They said no to the doctors. No more chemotherapy treatment for now.
But the doctors would not take no for an answer. They called child protective services in Jacob’s county and asked the agency to file charges against the family for medical neglect.
After looking into the matter, both the local CPS agency and the local prosecuting attorney refused to file charges. They believed that the parents were making reasonable decisions for Jacob.
The doctors still would not take no for an answer. They called higher authorities in the state level CPS agency. The doctors had to make several calls before they finally found someone who would agree with them.
As a result of all of these calls, the local CPS agency was pressured into filing medical neglect charges against the parents.
The local prosecutor still refused to take a case against the family, so the state level CPS officials hired an independent private lawyer to serve as the prosecutor against Ken and Erin Stieler.
A jury trial is scheduled for early January to determine if the doctors will be given the authority to take over the medical decision-making for Jacob.
Click the link above, read the rest.
See also - Vaccinate Yourself Against Doctors.
5 comments:
i dont agree with ron paul on everything, but these are the kind of things make me vote for him. (i think these issues are bigger than *foreign relations* blah blah)
people dont realize this is like slow poison...suddenly after 20-30 years, the whole country (and legal system) could become like china or something. There wont be real freedom any more.
Then we just move, right?
Australia?
unfortunately, all other countries (eg: all of EU) are screwed/going-in-that-direction as well.
ironically US is the better one,
i think some states here will probably secede before that. I am guessing texas or some other southern state.
Ewing's sarcoma is an awful cancer and yes treatment is indicated with a negative PET scan (there can be tiny traces of cancer cells and you really don't want this to come back)
How can non-medical people look at the facts of this case and conclude that the doctor is wrong?!!
I may agree that they moved aggressively but do you personally know or have met a kid dying of Ewing's? Their best opportunity is to hit it hard and early.
btw that BS from the homeschooling site i looked up
We doctors use medications all the time for "non-FDA approved" conditions.
Heck here's a NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE article talking about these same drugs in the treatment of Ewing's Sarcoma.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa020890
Does it mean anything that the most renowned journal in the world is studying "non-FDA approved" medications?
NO
Don't pretend to know more about the medical world, the one we studied to be a part of for 11+years and to take crap from "educated" lay people...
pul-leasee
Mark,
You are a NAZI if you think the parents and patient must be FORCED to undergo more treatment than they wish - and THAT is the issue at hand.
As for the rest of your rambling, incoherent post....I can only presume it was the fruit of late-night organic vodka lucubration, again.
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