Posted on 05/09/2019 2:13:31 PM PDT by Red Badger
TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - A 3-year-old cancer patient must undergo chemotherapy over the next 28 days despite the wishes of his parents, a Tampa judge ruled Wednesday afternoon. But she did not make a decision about treatment options after that.
The ruling marks the latest twist in the case of Noah McAdams, who was was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia back in April. After two rounds of chemotherapy, his parents Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland decided they wanted to try a more natural, holistic approach.
When they failed to show up for a chemo appointment at All Children’s Hospital on April 22, authorities tracked them down in Kentucky and brought the family back. Days later, a Tampa judge ordered temporary custody to Noah’s maternal grandmother.
After a day's worth of testimony Wednesday, the judge decided that Noah would get chemotherapy for 28 days, but allowed the possibiliy of holistic treatments in conjunction with the chemo. She also delayed any ruling on follow-up rounds of treatment until a later date.
The media was not allowed into the courtroom because of patient privacy concerns.
Following the ruling, the couple joined their attorney outside court to say they'd abide by the ruling.
"It is a mixed bag in that we obviously have to watch this child go through chemotherapy, but we know that, at least with the use of cannabis and other treatment that the child will hopefully be able to deal with the chemotherapy better than not having those alternative treatments available," attorney Michael Minardi offered.
"I think it's real important that people know there are alternatives to chemotherapy," Taylor Bland added.
Earlier in the day, a handful of demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse with signs supporting the right of Noah's parents to make medical decisions for their son. One protestor, named Chanda, said she doesn't know the family, but was moved to support them because "when a parent isn't being negligent and they are doing everything in their power to keep their child healthy, it's their child, it should be their choice."
On Tuesday, Minardi had explained why the parents want to try cannabis as an alternative approach. "There are many studies that indicate that cannabis creates and causes cell death of cancer without the harmful side effects," Minardi told FOX 13.
But the science on cannabis is not widely accepted and the treatment is not FDA-approved. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, is shown to be 90-percent effective against the kind of leukemia Noah has, according Dr. Bijal Shah, of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
While the side effects of chemo can be brutal, Dr. Shah says patients who end it early almost always see their cancer return.
How can a judge overrule the parents?
I am really NOT into anyone overruling parents, but ALL is 92% CURABLE in very young patients these days. Do these parents not want the child to live?? Are they aware that the child has a 92% chance of living into adulthood WITH CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT?? Maybe they should talk with Steve Jobs about alternative therapies? Oh wait, he died when he didn’t have to........
In what part of Mars do you live?
“”But the science on cannabis is not widely accepted and the treatment is not FDA-approved. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, is shown to be 90-percent effective against the kind of leukemia Noah has, according Dr. Bijal Shah, of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.””
Of course it isn’t. The AMA and FDA will NEVER give in to any alternative treatments that could help a patient.
“”While the side effects of chemo can be brutal, Dr. Shah says patients who end it early almost always see their cancer return.””
As if the treatment he advocates always has a positive result for the patient and the family??? And those who don’t see their cancer return likely aren’t alive anymore.
Everyone should be reminded of “Lily” - the super little girl who fought the same thing for years with everyone in the state of GA and perhaps elsewhere aware of her fight and the loss of that battle. Heartbreaking for everyone but her story is repeated over and over in other families. Her parents took her for treatment in GA and to TX always hoping and praying it would help. We all shared in the loss of that brave child.
https://www.mcdonaldandson.com/memsol.cgi?page=gallery&user_id=1580882
the kid’s already been thru “two rounds of chemo” - i take that to mean 2 full multiple sessions series of chemo. I know we used that term for my family member who recently went thru 3 rounds, each round being about 10 treatments. we beleiev it’s the chemo more than the cancer that killed our family member. doing good managing the cancer and living about twice as long as expected til that last round of chemo took it’s toll and complications happened due to how depleted they were.
How much chemo do youwant this little 3 year old boy’s body to go thru?
they don’t say if the kid showed any improvement from chemo already received or it just depleted his body.
where is the study facts to show 92% curable? how many in study? how long did they live after “cure”? How many had recurrences or other types cancer or disease show up? where does it specify that many get cured and live into adulthood?
to clarify our familly member was doing many alternatives herbals, energetic type healing therapies. we think that is what aided in living twice or more as long as expected. the chemo by itself didn’t show much improvement and just weakened them.
Of course there are alternatives. One can choose certain death with alternative “therapies” or choose to have a significant chance to survive with chemo. But since the patient is a young child, he cannot make such a choice.
In such cases, the wishes of the parents to engage in quackery do not usually have legal standing. The judges usually assume that the child would choose a treatment that has the highest chance of effecting a cure, if the child were capable of making such a decision rationally.
It isn’t widely accepted because anecdotal stories passed around by those who seek to profit from the sale of cannabis do not meet the standards of scientific evidence.
A judge overruled Terri’s parents and forced her to day a long and painful death by starvation.
Chemotherapy is toxic, naturopathic medicine is anti toxin. They tend to cancel each other. Judges should not pretend to be doctors.
Nore should they assume parental responsibility. We are American, not state owned cattle.
May this judge experience three rounds of chemotherapy, being poisoned to the brink of death and held there for a month.
Chemical torture.
If it is 92% curable, how come two chemotherapy regimens have failed to cure the child? As a chemotherapy regimen can cost a hundred grand, I suspect the parents have shown clearly the actually want their child cured.
May be why they are trying to do something different this time huh?
So many times the first hand testimony of people abused by the medical industry are ignored by worshipers of the great white lab coat.
To their own peril...
I am in the business of saving lives, not promoting pseudoscience and quackery.
People who trust to pseudoscience tend to die.
There is a vlog on youtube made by a young woman, Christina Newman. When she got breast cancer in her 30s, she trusted the “alternative treatments.” She was all positive about it, eager to make more vlogs telling about how she cured her cancer with “natural remedies.” What her foray into “natural cures” got her was time for the cancer to progress to stage 4 and spread throughout her body. One of her last videos is her begging people to really ask questions—to get actual proof that those “alternative treatments” work, to ask how many patients were really cured. She died at the age of 39, still desperately clinging to hope. She might have died anyway, even with the best science-based medicine, but she threw away any chance she had when she delayed her treatment to get “natural therapies.”
No, there is no sure-fire cure for any cancer. But when you find yourself facing a cancer, you go for the treatment that has the highest statistical chance of preventing recurrence (because you don’t cure cancer). Or you don’t go for that treatment, and throw away any chance you have of surviving for a few more years.
There is a multitude of conflicting information about chemotherapy, Recent medical studies indicate that chemotherapy actually reduces the chances of surviving cancer.
Also i mentioned the incompatibility of alternative medicine with pharmaceutical regimes for a reason. THEY ARE INCOMPATIBLE. THEY CANCEL EACH OTHER.
Pick ONE! NOT BOTH.
Personally I choose a regime to detoxify the body and strengthening the immune system while attempting to reboot apoctosys.
Your mileage may vary.
But I had a very good friend try both, hell all, and it killed him.
Oh, the you dont cure cancer is straight from the party line. The FDA has ruled:
When alternative medicine works, its spontaneous remission, when the patient dies of their cancer 5 1/2 years of agonizing pharmaceutical treatment later, they are legally cured.
Treatment was a success, but unfortunately the patient died.
Political correctness can be fatal.
Until you can cure cancer consistently, you practice psuedo science. Assuming you have the only answer and mocking others who observe you dont guarantees you will never have the answer. You cling to that you know is faulty as settled science.
Big mistake that leads many people in the wrong direction. Be careful you are not guilty of what you judge others for.
The article says the child was diagnosed in April and has had 2 treatments. Not two rounds of 10 treatments. Look up the statistics on ALL. Chemo is very toxic, but it is the best bet for the very young to beat ALL. Period.
There is a multitude of conflicting information about chemotherapy, Recent medical studies indicate that chemotherapy actually reduces the chances of surviving cancer.
Where, exactly, is this "conflicting information"? If there is a genuine controlled study that shows that chemo actually decreases survival from cancer, where is the reference? You can't just make claims like that without providing references from high quality medical journals. Also, where is the evidence that people did not die from cancer before chemotherapeutics were developed?
Oh, the same goes about your supposed "FDA" statement. The language in that statement is not scientific. Furthermore, if the FDA really said such a thing, you should be able to link directly to that statement on their website.
I'm going to skip the rest of your pseudoscience and conspiracy theorist blather.
The bottom line is that if you choose to believe con men who will sell you snake oil at very high prices, you are the one who will face the consequences. Who knows, you might even end up like young Christine Newman, making videos begging people to do their due diligence before throwing tens of thousands of dollars at conmen who make big promises but cannot deliver.
A child, on the other hand does not have even a rudimentary ability to assess the data. Hence, judges in these cases most often side with the child.
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