Stories like this make my blood boil:The mother of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser testified Friday that she and her son would refuse to comply with any court order requiring the boy to resume chemotherapy for his cancer.
"Danny clearly made up his mind. He's not doing it,'' Colleen Hauser, of Sleepy Eye, Minn., testified on the opening day of a trial over whether a court should order the boy into medical treatment against the family's wishes.
Hauser, whose son was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin's lymphoma, said conventional treatments such as chemotherapy conflict with the family's religious beliefs. She said they prefer natural remedies such as herbs and vitamins.
Dr. Bruce Bostrom of Children's Hospitals and Clinics, who first diagnosed the cancer when the boy arrived at a Minneapolis emergency room in January, said Daniel has a 95 percent chance of survival if he receives chemotherapy.
The Hausers declined to speak to reporters after Friday's court session. But Dan Zwakman, a member of the Nemenhah religious group to which they belong, acted as the family spokesman. He argued that this is a case about religious freedom, noting that the group's motto is "our religion is our medicine."
Medical experts testified Friday that X-rays showed that Daniel's tumor had grown between early and late April. The doctors called that an alarming finding, and said the cancer could become even more difficult to treat the longer they wait.
I should mention that there are NO randomized clinical trials which have shown that "natural remedies" can treat Hodgkin's lymphoma or any cancer for that matter. So does the refusal of the parents to give the child treatment (that cures 95% of patients!) constitute child endangerment, thus allowing the courts to come in and force the child to undergo treatment? I hope so. Sadly, these incidents are becoming more and more common.
A Minnesota judge ruled Friday that a 13-year-old cancer patient must be evaluated by a doctor to determine if the boy would benefit from restarting chemotherapy over his parents' objections.
In a 58-page ruling, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" by his parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, and was in need of child protection services.
While he allowed Daniel to stay with his parents, the judge gave the Hausers until Tuesday to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist.
If the evaluation shows the cancer had advanced to a point where chemotherapy and radiation would no longer help, the judge said, he would not order the boy to undergo treatment.
UPDATE II: Geez, this kid's mother is really bending over backwards to kill him with her ignorance (speaking of which, it was recently revealed that Daniel is "home schooled" and is functionally illiterate. I guess I shouldn't be surprised):
A courtroom clash between medicine and faith took a criminal turn, with police around the country on the lookout Wednesday for a Minnesota mother who fled with her cancer-stricken 13-year-old son rather than consent to chemotherapy. A court-ordered X-ray on Monday showed a tumor growing in Daniel Hauser's chest, and doctors said it will probably kill him without conventional medical treatment.
And did she really think this wouldn't happen?A felony arrest warrant for deprivation of parental rights was issued today for Colleen Hauser..The new warrant carries a potential two-year prison term, "but I'm not interested in prosecuting Colleen Hauser," [Brown County Attorney James] Olson said.
As soon as Daniel is taken into custody, he will be returned to Brown County, placed into foster care and examined by a pediatric oncologist, Olson said.
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