Judge overrules mother over cancer treatment for son

[Nerthus]

Judge overrules mother over cancer treatment for seven-year-old Neon Roberts - Health News - Health & Families - The Independent

I had not heard about this story until today. Do you think parents have a right to decide what medical treatment their children have?
I suppose the main issue in this story is that the mother ran away with her son - she says she is worried about long term side effects of radiotherapy...


Is this any different to Jehovah Witness' not allowing blood transfusions.

 

[Iti oj]

Does a parent have the right to kill a child?

 

[LuisDantas]

There is no obvious correct answer.

Even uncontroversial treatments may sometimes have dangerous effects, and radiotherapy is hardly 100% safe.

Also, and I feel this strengtens the mother's case, according to the article she is simply not agreeing with the doctors about the need for a second operation after a previous one supposedly failed to completely remove a brain tumor.

So it comes down to whether or not she is willing to accept the doctors' judgement on which is the bigger risk to her son: a second operation or betting that there will be no further sequels without such an operation.

The only thing I can say with certainty here is that it must be awful to have to make such a choice at all.

I have little reason to doubt her. For all I know she is correct. Nor can I fault the doctors and the judge for doing what they believe to be necessary to save the life of a seven years older.

It all comes down to a rather arbitrary choice between trusting the profesionals or trusting the mother's judgement.

 

[MatthiasGould]

I've got close to little patience with this idiotic woman. She keeps banging on about finding 'holistic' treatment for her son yet has done nothing to present an alternative to doctors that can be reliably proven to work according to medical science. She's had more than enough time, she should either present a realistic alternative or shut up and let the doctors do their jobs.

For me, I'd trust the men and women with the medical degrees and years of experience over someone who wants to believe that what is essentially magic by another name can cure cancer. It must be pointed out that surgery and radiotherapy aren't the magic quick fixes she's believing them to be, and from what I can tell from reading on oncology, second and multiple surgeries are actually quite common.

I must add that I'd probably have slightly more patience with her if it were her OWN cancer treatment, as she'd then be legally entitled to do whatever she pleases. But when it's a young child, her own child too, who is legally not capable of making his own rational decisions about his treatment, it's a massive difference.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

Judge overrules mother over cancer treatment for seven-year-old Neon Roberts - Health News - Health & Families - The Independent

I had not heard about this story until today. Do you think parents have a right to decide what medical treatment their children have?
I suppose the main issue in this story is that the mother ran away with her son - she says she is worried about long term side effects of radiotherapy...


Is this any different to Jehovah Witness' not allowing blood transfusions.

It is the same sort of illogical behaviour.
Judges also overrule Jehovah Witnesses in matters of life or death.