Judge rules family can't refuse chemo for boy

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — 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.

Unfortunate my ass. It'll save his life. Herbs won't.

However a 13 year old kid really lacks the perspective to make that choice on a first chemo, one which has a 95% rate.

That's right, a 95% chance he's going to live.

I can drum up a lot more sympathy for kids who have been through one or more series of chemo with poor results. This kid isn't there yet and has only a 5% chance of getting there.

This was a good court decision. The kid is just gonna have to live. Let's hope he's got at least 70 years to be mad at the judge.

A 5% survival rate without it sucks worse, though.

is not that high.

We struggled with cases like this in law school back in the early seventies. Thirty-seven years ago, and no one - no one - thought a parent's religious beliefs should ever trump the well-being, nay, the LIFE, of a child. No one.

Thirty-seven years later, and I read yesterday about parents on trial for second-degree murder because their small daughter had diabetes, but they never got her any treatment. The mother did, however, manage to send out e-mails asking people to pray for their daughter.

Second-degree, in my opinion, is really gentle, a kind gift from the prosecutor. These people need to be locked away forever, someplace where they'll be sure never to reproduce again, never to go near a kid again.

Good for the judge. He did the right thing. And that is one hell of an opinion - fifty-eight pages. Good work ..............

Makes you wonder what ghouls are out there, testing the limits of the law with their own children's lives.

What's the most nervous creature on earth?

A Christian Scientist with appendicitis.......................

Hadn't heard that one. :D

he is a herbalist....the judge made the right decision

and thanks that I have something to like you for. ;)

(sentence ended with a preposition intentionally, not because I'm an idiot teacher...)

It's nice to see that some things are still intact.:)

they'll only have to wait until his Medicaid runs out; then the hospital will refuse to give him chemo.

He's not a ward of the court. Not sure what your point is.

that the boy was in need of child protective services. If the parents refuse to pay for his treatment, they may lose custody and the child might then become a ward of the court and put on Medicaid. Or he may be on or eligible for Medicaid now. My point at any rate was that the objections to denying treatment to this child will all go away if nobody gets paid. Cynical but true.

but his parents retain custody. He is in no way "a ward of the court," although I'm not sure what that means. His guardian ad litem will oversee the treatment and make sure he is getting to his appointments, taking his medication, all the things that normal parents would do - except this kid doesn't have normal parents.

The article had no information about the parents' health insurance. If they have it, which is doubtful, since their beliefs are in an herbalist and not modern medicine, it will cover the kid. If they don't, then the child will be covered under Medicaid. In most states, the children's coverage is very good, and I doubt, given the publicity this case has received, that any limits will be reached in the boy's treatment.

I understand your cynicism, but I think a good dose of information and reality will help you with that ............... :)

It looks like whatever their religious is, they don't have an edict against crystal meth.