Utah parents of boy with cancer sue state

[Guest guest]

23 Aug 2005 22:01:22 -0000

C

Utah parents of boy with cancer sue state

 

 

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-19-utah-parents-sue_x.htm

 

Posted 7/19/2005 10:04 AM

 

Utah parents of boy with cancer sue state

 

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The parents of a boy once at the center of a

fierce battle over orders to treat his cancer with chemotherapy are

suing the state, its child welfare system and a hospital where he was

treated.

 

Daren and Barbara Jensen are asking for unspecified damages for

emotional distress in the case, which prompted them to temporarily

flee the state with the child. The lawsuit filed late Monday also

names four doctors who diagnosed their son, a state social worker and

a lawyer.

 

The Jensens claim they had the right to direct care for their son and

to refuse medical treatments. They contend the state violated those

rights when it sought custody of then-12-year-old Parker to force

medical care under the guidance of physicians his parents had not

selected.

 

A telephone message left with the Jensens' attorney was not

immediately returned.

 

Spokesmen for the Utah Attorney General's office, the Division and

Child and Family Services and the hospital said they could not comment

because their agencies had not yet been served with the suit.

 

Two years ago, the Jensens were charged with felony kidnapping and

medical neglect for refusing chemotherapy treatments recommended for

their son.

 

Parker had been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare and aggressive

form of cancer that doctors said could reappear and spread rapidly

through his body, even though he seemed healthy at the time.

 

The parents were unsure about the accuracy of the diagnosis and feared

that chemotherapy could make the boy sicker than the cancer, cause

other illnesses, stunt his growth or leave him sterile.

 

The lawsuit alleges that physicians at Primary Children's Medical

Center failed to complete — and in some instances refused — sufficient

additional tests to accurately diagnose the disease.

 

The kidnapping and medical neglect charges against the Jensens

eventually were dropped, though the couple pleaded guilty to a

misdemeanor charge of custodial interference and were sentenced to

probation, which ended last October.

 

Parker, now 14, appears to be well and healthy.

 

opyright 2005 The Associated Press.