Last week, when a judge ordered a 13 year old boy to again start chemotherapy treatments after he and his family chose to discontinue them, the boy’s mother threatened to take her son and disappear.  She made good on her threat; neither the teen or his mother showed up in court today.  There’s now an arrest warrant for Colleen Hauser for failing to appear today.  Further, the boy will now be placed in foster care once he returns to the court’s jurisdiction. 

Anthony Hauser did appear in court today and told the judge his wife told him it was better if he didn’t know where she was taking their son.  After speaking with one of his son’s doctors, he now believes the chemotherapy is the only option.  Unfortunately, that same conversation with the doctor revealed the tumor is now growing and pushing against the port that was inserted as a way to get the treatment into his son’s chest, causing even more pain to the 13 year old.  Still, his mother chose to take her son away from the very ones who could not only alleviate his pain, but probably cure the cancer.  Clearly, the natural healing methods the family had attempted to incorporate fell flat.  The herbal supplements didn’t serve their purpose either.

Because of this mother’s choices, she will now lose her son to the foster system and will most likely have no say at all in his future medical treatments.  Even though she was shown the x-ray taken on Monday that revealed how the tumor has grown, she still opted to flee.  In fact, when the doctor suggested they discuss his treatment options, she quickly ushered her son out of his office and said there was no need for an oncologist.

One can’t help but wonder what this boy is really feeling about his treatment options.  Is he simply going  along with what his mother believes or does he sincerely wish to stop treatments?  It should also be noted that he was diagnosed in the past with a learning disability.

With the arrest warrant issued earlier today, it’s just a matter of time before mother and son are located.  What happens next will largely rest on the judge’s shoulders.

See the first post on this topic here.

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Should a thirteen year-old boy be allowed to decide what kind of cancer treatments, if any, he receives?  That’s what a judge had to decide last week in Minnesota.  The judge’s decision was against this child’s wishes, and now Daniel Hauser must undergo chemotherapy and any radiation treatments his doctors rule necessary.

The boy and his family wanted to pursue alternative treatments that didn’t include any kind of chemicals unnatural to the human body, even though the form of Hodgkin’s lymphoma he’s diagnosed with has a 90% cure rate.  He will remain in his parent’s custody, even though they were charged with medical neglect, provided they schedule an appointment no later than this week with an oncologist.  His mother has stated she wouldn’t force her son to abide by the court’s ruling.

The court says it was acting in the child’s best interest and since he’s only thirteen, he’s too young to make that determination.  This stands to reason since we don’t allow thirteen year-old kids to drink alcohol nor do we allow them to vote.  They’re too young.  Ah, but then again, we do allow underage kids to undergo

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abortions and in some states, not even the parent’s notification is required.  So should this boy be allowed to cease his medical treatment?  Was the judge’s ruling right?  And what happens if the parents choose to not seek medical treatment as their way of honoring their son’s request?  Maybe more importantly, what if there are there natural remedies that can cure cancer without introducing radiation to the human body?  The parents insist their religious beliefs teach natural healing as a way to cure all that ails the human’s body and mind.  Regardless of how any of us feel about it, it’s a huge gamble to take with a young boy who has a cancer that responds well to modern medicine.  Further, this boy also has a learning disability that might be influencing the decision his family says he’s made with no influence from them.

The doctors who testified say six treatments of chemotherapy over six months would most certainly kill the tumor in its entirety.  One man who says he was cured of the same cancer via natural herbs stands behind this family and its decision on how their son lives his life.  He says the boy could die from the chemotherapy if he’s forced to undergo it, but that he’d stand by the family as they rejoice in his brave attempts to “test the law of the land”.

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Once again, assisted suicide is making headlines.  Four members of an organization, Final Exit Network, were arrested this week in Georgia for providing assistance to a man who wished to end his life.  There’s now a multi-state investigation into this group’s activities.  Eight states are looking into deaths they believe might have been assisted with one or more members from this group.  According to its website, this is a group that dedicates itself to serving those suffering from an intolerable condition. 

At least a few of the members are medical doctors, psychologists and other professionals.  They’re now being charged with assisted suicide, evidence tampering and there are other charges relating to racketeering.   The death they’re charged with providing assistance for was a man in northern Georgia who’d suffered from throat and mouth cancer.  According to his mother, he’d been in pain for awhile and was depressed.  He was still facing other surgeries and at least one more round of chemotherapy.  His 85 year old mother then went on to say she knew he was depressed and that although she was in pain, she respected his decision.

This group has over 3,000 members who pay dues each month.  Those who wish to end their lives are provided an exit guide that reveals information for successfully committing suicide.  They’re then told to obtain two helium tanks.  An “exit bag” - a hood that’s worn over the head is provided and once the date has been established, two members of the group arrive at the person’s home to oversee the event.  They insist they don’t participate, but are there to lend support and to ensure there are no problems. 

The eight states investigators have in their crosshairs are: Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Montana, Missouri and Colorado.  There’s at least one specific death being investigated in Arizona.  If the four who were arrested this week are found guilty, they could serve up to five years in prison.

A final note:  Betty Celmer, the mother of the man who successfully carried out his suicide and who the four are charged with assisting, said that she didn’t believe the organization should face charges and that it’s her belief they helped her son end his pain.  She said, “If someone helped him, I think that was in God’s hands”.

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