[Reader-list] Teen Loses fight to use alternative medicine...

Jeebesh Bagchi jeebesh at sarai.net
Wed Jul 26 17:36:33 IST 2006


More on modern medicine and it's continuing fight to keep itself  
viable.....b, j

http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/feeds/ap/2006/07/22/ 
ap2897439.html

Associated Press
Judge Orders Teen to Cancer Treatment
By SONJA BARISIC , 07.22.2006, 11:13 PM

A judge has ruled that a 16-year-old boy fighting to use alternative  
treatment for his cancer must report to a hospital by Tuesday and  
accept treatment that doctors deem necessary, the family's attorney  
said.

The judge on Friday also found Starchild Abraham Cherrix's parents  
were neglectful for allowing him to pursue alternative treatment of a  
sugar-free, organic diet and herbal supplements supervised by a  
clinic in Mexico, lawyer John Stepanovich said.

Jay and Rose Cherrix of Chincoteague on Virginia's Eastern Shore must  
continue to share custody of their son with the Accomack County  
Department of Social Services, as the judge had previously ordered,  
Stepanovich said.

The parents were devastated by the new order and planned to appeal,  
the lawyer said.

Stepanovich said he will ask a higher court on Monday to stay  
enforcement of the order, which requires the parents to take Abraham  
to Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk and to give  
the oncologist their written legal consent to treat their son for  
Hodgkin's disease.

"I want to caution all parents of Virginia: Look out, because Social  
Services may be pounding on your door next when they disagree with  
the decision you've made about the health care of your child,"  
Stepanovich said.

Phone calls to the Cherrix home went unanswered.

The lawyer declined to release the ruling, saying juvenile court  
Judge Jesse E. Demps has sealed much of the case.

Social Services officials have declined to comment, citing privacy laws.

After three months of chemotherapy last year made him nauseated and  
weak, Abraham rejected doctors' recommendations to go through a  
second round when he learned early this year that his Hodgkin's  
disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes, was active again.

A social worker then asked a judge to require the teen to continue  
conventional treatment. In May, the judge issued a temporary order  
finding Abraham's parents neglectful and awarding partial custody to  
the county, with Abraham continuing to live at home with his four  
siblings. 



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