Posted on 01/07/2015 6:22:02 AM PST by justlittleoleme
A 17-year-old girl is fighting the state of Connecticut over her right to refuse life-saving health treatment. Cassandra Fortin suffers from Hodgkins Lymphoma, a relatively treatable form of cancer. She was diagnosed in September 2014. She has resisted the chemotherapy to treat the condition and is now in the custody of the state. Her case is now going before the Connecticut Supreme Court. Under state law, Cassandra is not allowed to make decisions about medical care until she is 18.
Here’s what you should know about Cassandra and this controversial medical case:
(Excerpt) Read more at heavy.com ...
Thay are not your children any more.... they are the governments'.
They can choose to have an abortion, but they cannot choose to not have chemo and surgery?
Can’t be a tax slave or an oppressor if you are dead. Since you are only a government asset the government will do with you as it pleases.
Whereas I agree with the sentiment regarding the hypocrisy/inconsistency you point out, refusing chemotherapy and radiation therapy for Hodgkin's is essentially suicide. Hodgkin's has >90% cure rates with chemo and radiation. I have a hard time with the idea of just allowing 17 year olds to commit suicide without some kind of intervention to prevent this.
I totally get it. Chemo is awful, I watched my sister go through radiation and chemo and surgery. She is still around but it was hell.
Meanwhile isn’t this the same hospital that kept that other girl captive?
"Fortin said her daughter was perfectly healthy until May, when Cassandra noticed her neck was swollen. She spent the summer months having blood-work done to determine the problem. Despite test after test, Fortin said doctors could figure out what was wrong.
Fortin said it wasn’t until September that doctors at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) ran a biopsy and said Cassandra likely had Hodgkin lymphoma.
Fortin said Cassandra wanted to seek a second opinion, so she pulled her daughter’s records to bring to another hospital.
But Fortin said CCMC doctors understood that as “neglect” and reported her to the state’s Department of Children and Families. Fortin said that DCF filed a motion and was granted temporary custody of Cassandra."
Forced Chemo on treatment of a "likely" case of cancer without allowing a second opinion just isn't right in no way shape or form.
My 12 year old niece was just diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma on Monday. She has a rare and aggressive form that attacks her T cells. I couldn’t imagine sitting back and letting her die without trying to fight it. My niece knows how hard this will be but she wants to fight for her life. She is a brave little girl.
The other hospital was Children’s Hospital in Boston.
.
Well apparently y’all have got a real diagnosis, in Cassandra’s case it is speculative.
She is in my prayers. No child should ever have to deal with this, and no parent should have to watch their child go through this. I hope she is in a very experienced medical center. She is indeed very brave.
Brave? She’s misguided. There is no reason she should not seek treatment. As the previous poster pointed out, this is a very treatable form of cancer with a very good treatment response history. In this case, I don’t trust the mother.
Think I read another article where the hospital staff confirmed her fears that she would never be able to have children if she went through with further chemo. At that point, she bolted and wanted live with the possibility of death by cancer rather than be potentially sterilized at 17.
“Forced Chemo on treatment of a “likely” case of cancer without allowing a second opinion just isn’t right in no way shape or form. “
I agree that a second (or third etc) opinion should always be an option for any patient. In this particular case all that has to be done is to have the pathology slides and lab data sent to another pathologist for a second opinion. That said, i find it very hard to believe that any hospital would push for ‘forced’ chemotherapy for a minor without being confident of the pathological diagnosis. There are very likely hospital attorneys involved, and the liability of the hospital would be enormous.
It wouldn’t matter if she were telling the absolute truth, no one will believe Cassandra.
I understand, but she will never have children if she dies of Hodgkin’s, and the likelihood of that without treatment is high.
You didn't read the post that my response was to. It was a post about a 12 year old niece of the poster who has T-cell lymphoma and is committed to fighting for her life and undergoing chemotherapy etc. I agree with you that the 17 year old’s decision to not have a very likely curative therapy is misguided.
The thing that always cracks me up about these sorts of cases is the 800 lb gorilla in the room:The person making the decision to acquire a specific product or service is the one paying for it.
If you get my drift.
And if that is not true, well, we have bigger problems.
If she is not asking to be allowed to actively kill herself, she would be on good ground. However she is a minor and therefore legally not competent to make decisions about useful treatment herself. Her parents or guardian should make the decisions here.
Absolutely. This hospital is way out of bounds along with the State.
The problem seems to be the hospital itself being very jealous of its own recommendations to the point that they must be obeyed with no other inputs permitted. In this sort of thing second opinions are always warranted, even highly advisable, whiichever way the first opinion came down.
This hospital has, I believe, been involved in forced treatments before to the extent of imprisoning a patient.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.