Court rules teen must have cancer treatment

[Fountain79]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13977403/?GT1=8307

A judge ruled Friday 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.

[valerief]

1. self delete

came out wrong

[NNadir]

2. I'm sorry but this is wrong.

I think herbal cancer treatments are nonsense, but this boy is old enough to control his own body. The state has no right to force you to submit to medical procedures.

[valerief]

3. He's not old enough to drink or to have his vote switched though. n/t

[Fountain79]

4. Apparently this is the treatment his parents wanted too... n/t

[valerief]

10. Yeah, but Big Pharma gotta make big bucks. Can't have cases

where cancer isn't cured via Big Pharma.

The world is one Terri Schiavo Big Brother sewer (no offense to that poor woman but a slam to the vermin that fed off her).

[Guy Fawkes]

6. If he was over 18, I would agree...

but as a minor, he really has no legal rights here.

[Fountain79]

8. But I think he's parents wanted this too...n/t

[NNadir]

12. I have an eleven year old son. When he was six, he decided to

stop a series of surgeries he was having. (He was on surgery #32 or #33, I kind of lost count.)

It was his decision to stop. Almost every adult I talked to in that time thought it was the wrong decision. They implied he could not endure the consequences of not having that surgery.

I am very proud of my son, who is growing into a very fine young man. My son made the right decision and I would have made the wrong one.

A sixteen year old girl can determine whether to proceed with a pregnancy. I support that right. Nobody has the right to control a sixteen year old's flesh.

[SPKrazy]

5. Very Sticky Situation

one wonders why this 16 year old can't be emancipated as a 16 year old girl who got married or pregnant might be if they applied.

The operating position of the court seems to be that the 16 year old is not of age to make a decision and that his guardians are not making the right decision.

If it was a 12 year old, or even a 14 year old, I might feel differently. But 16, and I know 16 year olds can be emancipated in my state for different reasons, where if he was emancipated he would have the rights of an adult to make decisions about his care.

Now I would say that I would want treatment other than alternative treatment if it were me, but I also know that standard treatment can be deadly, and have terrible side effects like irreversible neuropathy, brain damage, and circulatory damage depending on the treatment used.

Sad case

[Eric J in MN]

7. No one should be forced to have medical treatment.

Patients should have the right to refuse.

[cynatnite]

9. He's a minor...

I say drag him by the nape of his neck into the hospital and give him the treatments. The parents should go into therapy for naming their kid Starchild.

[DanCa]

11. I am not going to put myself in the middle of this life or death decision.

I know what it feels like to have else make medical descions for you.
If I did that too someone else I'd be a hypocrite. I am staying out of this.

[Fountain79]

13. Something I just thought of from another post here...

Would such a ruling give precedent to deny an underage girl the right to have an abortion without parental consent?

[valerief]

14. Hey, they're all tied together to restrict civil liberties. Much serve

the machine, after all.

[ChazII]

15. Conventional means were tried

and failed. Gov't has no business in this case.