PRISON: The New Model For Healthcare

The Following Is A True Story:

In 2014 as Halloween approached, 12 police vehicles arrived at Cassandra C.’s house in Connecticut. She was a 17 year old girl that had been diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma) and alone in her house. The police escorted an employee with the DCF (Department of Children and Families) into the home and found Cassandra. She was hiding in a closet. They told her they had orders to remove her from her house and take her to a hospital where she was mandated by a court order to undergo chemotherapy for her disease. She was not permitted to call her mother.

When she was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Cassandra and her mother began researching all the methods available to address this diagnosis. Cassandra decided she wanted to try a natural approach that could effectively address the disease without suffering the potential short and long term side effects that chemotherapy could potentially produce. As a result of her decision, her doctors contacted the DCF. The courts were quickly brought into the case and so began the legal battle.

Cassandra and her mother quickly found out how the judicial system worked. The state of Connecticut took on the responsibility deciding what her options were. Cassandra’s lawyer presented her case to the court. There requests were met with adamant refusals. The doctors (speaking on behalf of the state) told the judge that Cassandra would die if chemotherapy was not started. The judge ruled that Cassandra’s ONLY option was chemotherapy. This mandate REQUIRED her to comply with the hospitals’ instructions. She was placed in the hospital for 5 months while undergoing chemotherapy. She was allowed minimal contact with her family. During these limited visits, a DCF employee had to be present to supervise while a guard sat outside the room. The visits could not exceed 2 hours.

After going through the 5 months of chemotherapy and all the pain (both emotional and physical) associated with the treatment and incarceration, Cassandra was released from the hospital reportedly in a state of remission. Within just a few months (July of 2015) Cassandra had a PET scan which revealed a “hot spot” in the abdominal region. Based on the quality of the scan the images showed “something” but was not conclusive. She was told that additional testing would be performed in August.

Cassandra will turn 18 in September. Her August appointment has created a source of real anxiety. If further testing reveals that her disease is no longer in remission, she fears the state will once again step in and decide her fate without her consent. She knows that additional chemotherapy will be ordered.

Points we need to consider:

• It’s legal for a 12-year-old to get birth control and have an abortion without the consent or knowledge of her parents in several states, but a 17-year-old isn’t allowed to refuse chemotherapy.

• It’s legal to terminate a pregnancy, but illegal (in this case a violation of a court order) to choose a natural holistic healthcare treatment to treat one’s own disease.

• The courts have the right to take a minor that has committed a violent crime and charge and sentence this person as an adult. Why can’t these same courts choose to listen to a minor (17 year old girl) and treat her as an adult; one who is willing to take on the responsibility of her own health by researching and choosing a reasonable alternative course of treatment to combat this disease?

• Is it really acceptable behavior to strap a 17 year old to a hospital bed and force her to undergo chemotherapy intravenously against her will?

• Is it really acceptable behavior to threaten her with sedation prior to every chemotherapy treatment as well as withholding food for 12 hours prior to sedation if she does not voluntarily cooperate? Do we really need to create more fear in a young woman already facing the possibility of death?

• Is it really acceptable behavior to isolate her from her family and friends, confine her to her room and keep an armed guard at the door to insure all court orders are followed?

Under the best of circumstances the diagnosis of cancer is terrifying. Where is the humanity? Where is the compassion? Where is the dignity? If the emotional distress of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was not enough, just imagine the torment of being treated like a prisoner without basic rights because you were diagnosed with cancer and classified as a minor.

This is reality. This is what happened. I am sharing this story because major newspapers and major television news media isn’t. We can’t continue to turn a deaf ear to mandated healthcare policies.

I am NOT fighting against you and your healthcare beliefs; I am fighting FOR YOU and supporting your RIGHT TO CHOOSE.

If you have not had a chance to sign the petition, I have included a link below. I would like to thank all of you that have signed it. In summary it requests full medical disclosure on all available treatments to help the consumer decide what is in their best interest. YOUR SIGNATURE MATTERS. (Please sign this petition.) After signing, please “share” it on facebook, twitter and any other social media you associate with. THIS MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT. Click on the blue link below to open it. Thank you.

Accurate Reporting Of Healthcare Options

Tags: alternatives, cancer, children, emotions, health care