http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer...-chemo-n281511
A Connecticut court is set to weigh whether a 17-year-old girl with life-threatening cancer can refuse a treatment she views as "poison." The case tests a core issue of civil rights and modern medicine: At what age do we have legal control of our bodies?
The adolescent — called only "Cassandra C." in court papers — made the stunning demand that she receive no more chemotherapy to treat her cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma. Her survival odds are 80 to 85 percent with chemo but she will die without it, her doctors have said.
Diagnosed in September, Cassandra is being treated against her will at Connecticut Children's Medical Center (CCMC) in Hartford. She's told her oncologist she does not want to be exposed to the "toxic poisons" of chemotherapy, court filings show.
Her mother, Jackie Fortin, fully supports Cassandra's choice...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/court-hears-case-of-teen-refusing-cancer-treatment/
This is a rather tricky situation.The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a 17-year-old girl with cancer must continue to get chemotherapy against her will.The girl, identified in court documents as Cassandra C., had asked the court to allow her to make her own medical decisions, even though she won't turn 18 until September. But CBS Connecticut reports the justices unanimously upheld a lower court ruling ordering her to continue treatment.
The Associated Press reports Cassandra currently is confined in a room at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, where she is being forced to undergo chemotherapy. Doctors said the treatment would give her an 85 percent chance of survival, but without it she would likely die within two years.
Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma four months ago. Doctors recommended she receive chemo, a common treatment for that type of cancer, but the girl refused and her mother supported her decision.
On one hand she should be allowed to do what she wants with her body, on the other hand though, her mother sounds like a total nutjob. Experts have weighed in saying that if she gets treatment she has an 80-85% chance of survival, but not doing anything means she will almost certainly die, but the mother claims "This isn't about dying, she will not die" which honestly seems in denial.
I think it would be a criminal waste of a life if the girl was allowed to have her way and die when she had such a high chance of survival, and the whole thing reeks of the mother swaying her opinion on the matter. Neither of them sound in their right mind.
The worst part is though, is that once she is 18, she will likely cancel the chemo treatments anyway.
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