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Michigan to force brain surgery on toddler
Does the state have the right?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...66.htm&sc=1110 Michigan May Compel Surgery for Toddler By JAMES PRICHARD GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Surgeons say 2-year-old Noshin Hoque will probably die within a year or two unless the tumor growing deep in her brain is removed. But the operation itself will probably kill her or leave her blind or paralyzed. Given those odds, the little girl's parents, Jalaz and Shaheda Hoque, decided not to let doctors operate, and instead started taking her to a Montreal homeopath for herbal and nutritional treatments in hopes of curing her. But now prosecutors have taken the Hoques to court to force them to go ahead with the surgery in a case that revisits the question of who should decide what is best for the child when it comes to lifesaving medical treatment. ``There's no other outcome but death, without surgery,'' said David Gorcyca, prosecutor in suburban Detroit's Oakland County. ``I think if I'm a parent given a 30 percent fighting chance of survival, I'm taking that shot every time.'' On Friday, Circuit Judge Martha Anderson ordered the parents to allow a state social worker to see Noshin and gauge her condition, after the Hoques turned away the last one who came to their home. The couple were also ordered to provide prosecutors with complete records of their daughter's treatments. A hearing was set for May 12, when the judge will receive the results of a court-ordered brain scan on Noshin to determine the effectiveness of the homeopathic treatment. The walnut-size cancerous tumor lies against several important arteries and affects Noshin's speech, vision and gait. But the location of the mass could make surgery risky. Two pediatric neurosurgeons told the couple that there was a 70 percent to 80 percent chance that their daughter would emerge either dead or with severe complications. If Noshin survived the initial surgery, she would then have to undergo chemotherapy and follow-up operations to have any chance at living, said the couple's lawyer, Charles Cooper. The couple, an electrician and his homemaker wife, are from Bangladesh, where homeopathy is more widely accepted. The Hoques (pronounced HOKE) fear surgery would kill Noshin or leave her in a vegetative state, Cooper said. ``They didn't want her to be going into the hospital and having the top of her head removed and then all of these different surgeries and having her go through all of this,'' Cooper said. Cooper said Noshin is doing much better now that she is receiving alternative medicine; her left eye does not roam anymore, and her left arm is stronger than it has been for a while. Noshin's pediatrician at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit contacted the state after her parents, who live in Royal Oak, stopped bringing her to appointments. Prosecutors filed an emergency petition to intervene. Such disputes occur from time to time around the country, and judges have generally ruled that parents cannot withhold lifesaving medical care from a seriously ill child. Parents often cite religious beliefs when rejecting medical treatment for their ill children. Christian Scientists believe in prayer instead of conventional medicine, while Jehovah's Witnesses oppose blood transfusions. But that is not the case with the Hoques. Lawrence Schneiderman, a doctor of internal medicine and a medical ethicist who teaches at the University of California at San Diego, said the Hoques' situation is also different because surgery in this case is so risky. ``The clinical condition of the child is so serious that quality-of-life considerations should take precedence over a prolongation of life. Therefore, the parents have a right to decide what they think is in the best interest of their child,'' he said. But Schneiderman warned that any suggestion that homeopathic treatment can cure or ease cancer is quackery. He suggested that the Hoques instead concentrate on making their daughter as comfortable as possible. ``There are nicer, easier, better things you can do for her than take her up to Canada for this foolishness,'' he said. |
Re: Michigan to force brain surgery on toddler
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it is the parents decision. thats how I feel.
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But Bob, the kid is gonna die anyway.
If they let the kid die, it's negligence, and they should go to jail, just like the crazies that think you can pray to heal injuries. studkickass, we've gone so far past parents having any kind of say in anything in this country. If that's the opinion of the nation, they should have said something 30 years ago, when the Child Protective services was formed. Ask yourselves what the best interest of the child is. Isn't that our first priority? |
i morally agree w/ the state of michigan, but i think the parents have the ultimate decision.
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If the prognosis was better than 50%, I would agree with them forcing the surgery, although they likely wouldn't need to. Either way, odds are the child is going to die.
I would probably go with the surgery, but you don't really know untill its happening to you. Alls I know for sure is , if its my child, I believe I have not only the right, but the responsibility to decide what is in their best interest, not the state. |
agreeing completely with bob.
and herbal remedies have worked in the past. there's a different approach for everyone. has surgery completely eliminated cancer in everyone? no. while i do agree it might be smart in this case to go with the surgery, however, it's not right to force it, especially since the parents are trying some method. |
Can parents also chose to beat their kid to death? I think the state should make an intervention when parents are risking their child's life. Surgery hasn't complitely eliminated cancer in 100% cases, but it is BY FAR better option than to chew a few funny leaves and cross your fingers. This "some method" could be even magnetic fields, color therapy or any other "alternative remedy", I don't give a dhingy, they can do that AND have the surgery. Why is it one or the other?
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Death or Death......make your choice
Personally if it were my child, I think I would tell the government to go to hell and start having massive amounts of fun with my child while they were still alive. After all, the govt. sure isn't going to pay for the surgery and all the stuff afterwards from caring for a blind paralized child that needs chemo.
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Definitely with the parents on this one. What's the point in a surgery that will probbly kill her anyway, and if it doesn't it will leave her blind and paralyzed? Not much different than death.
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I'm with you. What quality of life can the child expect?
Will it be a good life or a string of torturous, painful, terrorizing operations and procedures all in the name of the welfare of the child. How much of this will the child realize at her age other than the pain and the fear? Perhaps a short but full life would be the better choice. I suppose you have opened a Pandoras box of ethical and moral questions but it should be interesting. |
70 - 80 percent chance she'll die anyway? Who in the right mind would require this type of surgery? State child protective services, if that's who is making this call, should be ashamed of themselves.
What's worse, is now the parents are having to spend time and money in court to fight this shit. Too much government..... |
I would have to side with the parents, with such a low chance of survival.
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http://www.cpmc.org/professionals/re...erbs_2001.html Also, here are two others that relate more towards a middle-ground between invasive and natural therapies. It seems I've been too hasty when saying one couldn't use both orthodox AND alternative approaches. http://www.braintumor.org/pservices/...2/rosstext.pdf http://www.4uherb.com/cancer/brain/treat.htm However, since the article doesn't fully detail the specifics of the girl's situation, I have no idea of knowing if combining treatments would even be possible (has the state or parents even considered this approach?). If they are not, then I stand by my opinion that the parents should have sole responsibility of their child's well-being. |
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I doubt that the state would take the quality of life issue into consideration. They are probably locked in a damned if you do damned if you don't position. Nearly all states have laws that allow the state to force parents to get medical help for children. I am in no way supporting the state in this particular incident but there are reasons for such laws. Quite often a child is allowed to die from something that should never have been life threatening had the child received medical attention. Usually someones fucked up idea of religion is the basis for their decision. No one ever accused those who interpret laws of having any common sense. Common sense would eliminate 98% of the idiocracy like this that goes on in our country.
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Living close to Grand Rapids, I'm surprised I haven't heard this.
I agree with the parents... My cousin is going through a similar situation but she's still holding on....Her little boy was born with a condition that I think is called MINX. He wasn't supposed to live past 6 months. He'll be 2 years in November. Right now he's in the hospital and the outlook isn't good. I understand her holding on to hope like she is but I don't think I could do it.. Another sad thing is they have another little boy (not even a year older) that's basically living with his grandmother so that his mom can stay at the hospital 24/7 with the baby..She has been staying with the baby less and less though....My guess is to wean herself, in a way, off of him....(does that make sense?) |
Eighty percent chance of death or serious disability??????
I would tell the government to Fuck Off while I stayed in Canada with my baby. |
Francis Farmer had a kid?
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