ATTENTION! Vegan Witch Hunt: Family To Lose Child On 1/20/04

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BACKGROUND: The horrifying case of Dan and Carolee Thaxton--a Utah

couple accused of " dietary abuse " and forced to surrender their

toddler Matthew to foster care and now permanent adoption--sets a

legal precedent of prejudicial action against those who raise

vegetarian/vegan children and follow meat- and dairy-free diets.

 

Documentary filmmaker Shaun Monson (NATION EARTH) has acquired legal

and medical case records that are haphazard, erroneous and out of

sync with one another.

[For an attached pdf of actual case records, email:

info]

 

The following sample letter is 1-1/2 pages in length, as opposed to

the single-page length of Kinship Circle letters. This is due, in

part, to give you the full story behind this miscarriage of justice.

As always, we encourage you to edit and personalize your letters

before sending them.

 

 

Comments must be received by January 19, 2004--one day before the

court implements its decision to put Matthew up for adoption.

 

 

At the end of this alert is one-page fact sheet on pitfalls of

meat/dairy consumption and benefits of a vegan diet for you to

include with your letters, if you wish.

 

===================SAMPLE LETTER===================

 

The Honorable Judge Kathleen M. Nelson

Second District Juvenile Court

P.O. Box 325

Farmington, UT 84025

ph: 801-451-4900 / 4950

 

RE: Case numbers 157257, 157259, 157260

 

Dear Judge Nelson,

 

There are no words to adequately express my shock over the Utah

Second District Court's decision to permanently remove Dan and

Carolee Thaxton's 18-month-old son Matthew from their home due to

alleged " dietary abuse. " I understand the State Department of Child

and Family Services (DCFS) took the ailing child away seven months

ago and you are to implement his adoptive status on January 20, 2004.

 

According to DCFS, Matthew's array of variously diagnosed conditions

stem from a vegan diet, with a deficiency in vitamin B12 implicated

in " pallor and low blood counts, " among other symptoms. Healthy at

birth, Matthew was misdiagnosed with Leukemia and has endured many

blood tests, two transfusions, a bone marrow biopsy, B12 shots and

supplementation, a Barium test, and more over a long odyssey of

conflicting assessments.

 

The Thaxtons complied with all prescribed exams and treatments, even

as stumped doctors mistakenly assumed Matthew's symptoms arose

from " malnutrition " AFTER they learned he was vegan. The Thaxtons

continued to cooperate with legal, social and medical agencies even

when ordered to " obtain psychological evaluation " due to suspected

mental instability because they are vegan. Dan and Carolee stand to

lose their healthy older children (Marylee, 7 and Sarah, 5) along

with Matthew on grounds of abusive dietary habits.

 

This is nothing short of a vegan witch hunt, rooted in anecdotal

evidence, biased assumptions and misinformed " expert opinions. " No

physicians educated in vegetarian health have been consulted. A

myriad of tests did not show, conclusively, that the vegan diet of

this breast-fed baby and his mother prompted a low-normal B12

deficiency. No one has offered medical studies to substantiate the

notion that a vegan mother can initiate malnutrition in a breast-fed

baby.

 

The Thaxtons are apparently under intense scrutiny due to the

October 2001 death of Dan Jr., their two-year-old son whose sudden

death was attributed to an inflammatory heart condition

(Myocarditis). The Medical Examiner found no evidence of wrongful

death or criminal action at that time. In fact, J. Wallace Graham,

M.D., testified to the cause of death as recorded in the death

certificate and contested Medical Examiner Dr. Maureen J. Frikke's

later claim of " profound growth retardation, " stating that Dan Jr.

was well within normal growth ranges for his age.

 

Despite the court's verdict of Myocarditis as cause of death, DCFS

entered " substantiated neglect " in the records. The Thaxtons were

told DCFC would drop charges if they consented to a statement of

neglect. Obviously in a state of profound grief, they agreed. Now

DCFS is highlighting Dan Jr.'s death as reason to remove Matthew.

 

In addition, authorities never investigated the Bountiful Police

Department's report of excessive carbon monoxide levels (which can

be lethal, especially to small children) detected in the Thaxton's

home at the scene of death. This is merely the tip of an iceberg

riddled with inconsistencies and withheld information.

 

On January 2, 2003 Dr. Geoffery Jackman wrote: " [Matthew] is a well-

nourished, well-developed, 7-month-old male who is awake, alert,

appropriate, active, smiling, nontoxic, in no acute distress and

vigorous. " Yet from that time until the present, the Thaxtons have

dealt with:

 

--Doctors unwilling or unprepared to compare conflicting evaluations;

--The hospital's admittedly false accusation of kidnapping after

Carolee and her mother took Matthew on a nurse-approved walk on

hospital grounds;

--DCFC custody of Matthew based upon " substantial danger to [his]

health and safety " --followed by a radiologist's diagnosis

of " swallowing disorder " (Dysphagia), a condition most infants are

born with that is in no way linked to a vegan diet;

--A social worker's instructions to forbid Matthew food from outside

the hospital;

--And the refusal of doctors and nurses to answer the Thaxton's

inquiries as to when Matthew might be released.

 

Carolee and Dan Thaxton were essentially the last to know about

their son's needs. On June 20, 2003, Dan was contacted at work and

advised to cease hospital visits because Matthew was already in the

custody of Melissa (Dan's sister) and Tom Andrews. Under legal

counsel, Carolee went to the hospital anyway, only to find the State

had barred all contact with her son, who was still there! Hospital

Security escorted her off the property.

 

Moreover, DCFS completely ignored the Thaxton's required list of

potential relatives for foster care--releasing Matthew to

unauthorized relatives, even though the judge had ruled this would

be the Thaxton's decision alone.

 

While I appreciate the legal system's concern for the welfare of the

Thaxton children, I am outraged by its disproportionate response to

the unproven " crime " of vegan dietary abuse and the unconstitutional

nature of its actions.

 

The permanent separation of Matthew Thaxton from his family is the

true injustice in this case. I will let others, including the media,

know that in the State of Utah it may be illegal to raise children

as vegans.

 

Sincerely,

 

===============ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFO===============

If you feel strongly that this case sets a legal precedent for

prejudicial action against those who lead vegetarian/vegan

lifestyles, please take the time to COPY your letter to these key

players in the Thaxton case.

 

**Email addresses were not located for the majority of these

contacts. Please mail/fax as many as possible.

Emails included below: governor, uag,

info, CAROLMILLER

 

CC:

Governor Michael Levit. and Lt. Governor Olene Walker

210 State Capitol Bldg.

Salt Lake City, UT 84114

ph: 801-538-1000; Toll-free: 800-705-2464

fax: 801-538-1528; email: governor

 

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff

ph: 801-538-9600; fax: 801-538-1121

email: uag

 

J. Clifford Peterson

Assistant Utah Attorney General For Petitioner DCFS

1340 E. 1450 So.

Clearfield, UT 84105

ph: 801-776-7304; fax; 801-776-7494

 

Katharina Christensen, Guardian ad Litem

Second District Office of the GAL

427 No. Wasatch Drive, 2nd Floor

Layton, Utah 84041-3254

ph: 801-444-4340; fax: 801-444-4345

 

Maureen J. Frikke, PhD., M.D., Assistant Medical Examiner

Office of the Medical Examiner

48 North Medical Drive

Salt Lake City, Utah 84113

ph: 801-584-8410; fax: 801-584-8435

 

J. Wallace Graham, M.D., C.M.

1571 East Tomahawk Drive

Salt Lake City, Utah 84103

ph: 801-521-3534

 

Lori Frasier, M.D., Medical Director

Medical Assessment Team

Department of Pediatrics Center for Safe & Healthy Families

Primary Children's Medical Center

100 North Medical Drive, Suite 3400

Salt Lake City, Utah 84113

ph: 801-588-3650; fax: 801-588-3668

 

W. Daniel Jackson, M.D., C.N.S.P., Assoc. Clinical Professor of

Pediatrics

University of Utah School of Medicine

Medical Director of Nutrition Support

Primary Children's medical Center

100 North Medical Drive, Suite 2650

Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

ph: 801-588-3370, Physician Line: 801-588-2795(3)

 

Lisa Samson-Fang, M.D.

University of Utah Division of General Pediatrics

50 No. Medical Drive

Salt Lake City, Utah 84132

ph: 801-581-3501

 

Michael Cutler, M.D.

Total Health Institute

385 West 600 North

Lindon, Utah 84042

ph: 801-796-8112; fax: 801-796-8112

email: info

 

DCFS Director Richard Anderson

ph: 801-538-4100

Carol Miller, Program Support Specialist

Child and Family Services

Department of Human Services

120 North 200 West, #225

Salt Lake City, Utah 84103

ph: 801-538-4451; fax: 801-538-3993

email: CAROLMILLER

 

Dana Guertin, Child Protection Services Investigator

Utah Division of Child & Family Services, Northern Region

528 W. 100 No.

Bountiful, Utah 84010

ph: 801-397-7645; fax: 801-299-0197

 

DeAnn Mugleston, Caseworker supervisor

Utah Division of Child & Family Services, Northern Region

528 W. 100 No.

Bountiful, Utah 84010

ph: 801-298-6006

 

================ATTACHMENT TO LETTERS ================

 

 

The Thaxton case sets a legal precedent of prejudicial action

against those who raise vegetarian/vegan children and follow meat-

and dairy-free diets. Conversely, one could easily bring " dietary

abuse " charges against parents who feed kids a diet heavy in meat

and dairy.

 

 

-- " We now live in a world of Salmonella-tainted chickens, Listeria-

covered cheeses, and beefburgers laced with estrogenic hormones and

residues of potent antibiotics. There are very good reasons why

parents would want to raise their son or daughter without fatty and

contaminated meat and dairy products pouring through the child's

bloodstream each day. " Michael Klaper, M.D., author of Pregnancy,

Children and the Vegan Diet

 

--1 of 2 Americans will die from heart disease. The excess saturated

fat (mostly from animals) and cholesterol (completely from animals)

will be the cause in almost every case. The American Dietetic

Association claims that vegetarian diets reduce the risk for

coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, colorectal

cancer, lung cancer, kidney disease, and obesity.

 

--One in six teenagers' hearts showed significant blockage and the

arteries of five-year-olds were clogged with fatty patches.1999

American Heart Association Scientific Sessions report

 

--Cancer, the number two U.S. killer, is similarly associated with

our huge consumption of animal fat and protein.

 

-- " Cow's milk has become a point of controversy among doctors and

nutritionists. There was a time when it was considered very

desirable, but research has forced us to rethink this

recommendation...dairy products contribute to a surprising number of

health problems (including) chronic ear problems... " Benjamin Spock,

M.D., " Child Care, " 7th Edition

 

--Cow's milk can cause deficiencies in iron, essential fatty acids,

and vitamin E, as well as contribute to juvenile onset diabetes and

colic in babies. Cow's milk, with its high levels of insulin-like

growth factor (IGF-I), is associated with elevated risks for

prostate cancer and breast cancer. World Cancer Research Fund and

the American Institute for Cancer Research

 

-- " Milk products gave the highest correlation coefficient to heart

disease, while sugar, animal proteins and animal fats came in

second, third, and fourth, respectively. " A Survey of Mortality

Rates and Food Consumption Statistics of 24 Countries, Medical

Hypothesis 7:907-918

 

-- " At least 50% of all children in the United States are allergic to

milk, many undiagnosed. Dairy products are the leading cause of food

allergy, often revealed by constipation, diarrhea, and fatigue. Many

cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and

even eliminated by cutting out dairy. " Natural Health, July, 1994,

Frank Oski, M.D.,Chief of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Medical School

 

-- " Scientific data suggest positive relationships between a

vegetarian diet and reduced risk for several chronic degenerative

diseases and conditions, including obesity, coronary artery disease,

hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and some types of cancer. " Journal

of the American Dietetic Association, November 1997, 97(1)

 

--Male meat-eaters have a 50% chance of dying of a heart attack.

Vegetarian men have a 4% risk. U.S. vegetarians have cholesterol

levels 14% lower than meat-eaters; vegans (those who don't consume

meat or dairy products) have levels 35% lower. JAMA, 1995;274:894

 

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