(Dr. Rath involved )Child removed from parents who disagreed with doctor

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http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52 & story_id=6285

 

Child removed from parents who disagreed with doctor

 

2 April 2004

 

MUENSTER - In a landmark case, an appeals court in Germany is expected to rule

in coming days on whether to return a terminally ill child to his parents - who

have vowed not to continue his chemotherapy.

 

The volatile case, pitting a noted oncologist against a high- profile

alternative medicine guru, is being played out against the backdrop of chanting

protesters and tearful appeals before TV cameras.

 

At the centre of it all is Dominik Feld, a tousle-haired 8-year- old boy with a

big grin and a cheerful voice that belie the agony of rapidly spreading cancer.

 

His parents, Josef and Anke Feld from Siegen in central Germany, were stripped

of custody for Dominik by a court order after they refused to continue

chemotherapy treatments and baulked at a leg amputation.

 

The other players in this high-stakes drama are Muenster University Hospital

cancer specialist Heribert Juergens and alternative medicine practitioner

Matthias Rath.

 

Dr Juergens insists that the osteo sarcoma, or bone cancer, in Dominik's right

leg is far too advanced to merit treatment. The leg must be sacrificed to safe

the boy's life. In addition, the cancer has metasticized in his lungs, requiring

heavy doses of chemotherapy.

 

But Rath, saying cancer is curable by natural means, insists that Dominik will

one day be cancer-free if his parents go ahead with a regimen of mega-doses of

vitamins.

 

" We only want to do what is right for our son, " father Josef Feld told SWR

television during one of several impromptu news conferences that have marked

this highly unusual case in recent months.

 

" We feel so helpless now that the authorities have taken Dominik from us, "

mother Anke said through tears.

" He was doing better after we took him off chemo and put him on Dr Rath's

cellular therapy programme. And now we hear he's doing worse again in hospital,

where they are preparing to remove his leg, despite the fact that another

specialist told us it was unnecessary. "

 

The way the Felds tell it, they got a second opinion after Juergens recommended

amputation and were advised that cancerous tissues could be removed from the

bone marrow without having to resort to amputation.

 

They opted for that course of action and, while they were at it, they also

decided to stop Dominik's chemotherapy, which they felt was only making him

weaker and sicker. They put him on Rath's mega-dosage vitamin programme.

 

Alarmed by what he considered an irresponsible move, Juergens alerted

authorities who obtained a court order to remove Dominik from his parents'

custody.

 

That unleashed an ugly fight in the media which has seen protesters stage

rallies outside the court house and which has resulted in serious charges being

filed in court.

 

Accusing Juergens of being a " drug industry lackey " , Rath launched a " Save

Dominik " campaign which has drawn thousands of letters of support from as far

away as Australia and America.

 

Rath also accused Juergens of attempted manslaughter.

 

Juergens, meanwhile, got a court restraining order barring Rath from calling him

a " drug industry lackey " in the media or on his Internet website.

 

Rath continues to maintain that, while under his care, Dominik's condition

improved.

 

" The X-ray CT images of Dominik's lungs speak for themselves, " he told SWR

television. " The lung metastases present one year ago have completely vanished.

It is, therefore, clear that cancer is curable @ by natural means. "

 

Juergens dismisses those claims as misguided wishful thinking at best.

 

" The truth of the matter is that a patient appears to be doing better for a time

during which the cancer is in fact spreading but when symptoms appear to have

ameliorated somewhat, " he told a television interviewer.

 

" But that does not change the longterm prognosis nor does it mean that therapy

ought to be set aside, " he said.

 

Rath took his Save Dominik campaign on the road this spring with a lecture tour

series throughout Europe. At one such event in Muenster 1,000 persons showed up

for a personal appearance by Dominik, who read out a prepared statement claiming

he was on the mend.

 

That was just before he was removed from his parents' care.

 

Now Dominik's parents say they are in a race against time. " Our son's life is at

stake, " Anke Feld said. " We only want what is best for him. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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