this is aweful! little girl with a tumor

[Sequoia]

They're going to try to force her parents to do the surgery?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/05/07/toddler.tumor.ap/index.html

In my opinion. . . *shakes head* if the girl hardly has a chance with the surgery, can't they let her and her parents try to live out a 'normal' life for as long as she can? I think they should be left in peace. It's their desicion, and with such a small percent chance of survival, I think it really is the parent's right to choose.

If it was something like a 90% survival rate, that would be different, but I don't think it's fair to force them to possibly kill their own daughter in a surgery, especially when other options haven't been explored (as the parents are trying to do).

[Pan]

I agree. I think that, even though the doctors are the "experts", the parents know more about their own children than the docs do. It's their choice and they shouldn't be forced into anything.

[Lunacie]

The article says, "Such disputes occur from time to time around the country, and judges have generally ruled that parents cannot withhold lifesaving medical care from a seriously ill child. " BUT the surgery can hardly be called "lifesaving" in this case.

I think the crux of the matter is that someone thinks homeopathic medicine is "quackery" and that the parents are idiots for trying alternatives to western medicine. My sympathy and energies go to the parents as they deal with idiotic buracracy on top of an already painful situation.

[Kaylara]

But should it really be a courts decision in this case... I mean, if the surgery itself could do just as much harm as the tumor, shouldn't the family be allowed to decide?

kaylara