Holistic Medicine fought the cancer and...

[cannon_fodder]

the cancer won:

quote:    
Boy Who Fought Cancer Treatment Dies    
May 22 10:37 AM US/Eastern
                     
CANTON, Ohio (AP) - An 11-year-old boy whose parents won court approval to treat their son's leukemia with an unconventional method has died after five years of fighting the cancer.

oah Maxin died Thursday at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital in Cleveland, said Rinda Schelat of Reed Funeral Home in Canton.

Noah's parents, Greg and Theresa Maxin, won the right in 2002 to abandon chemotherapy treatment for their then-7-year-old son. County child welfare officials had accused the couple of neglect after the Maxins told Akron Children's Hospital they were pulling Noah out of chemotherapy three months into a 3 1/2-year treatment plan.

The couple said they were concerned about the long-term effects chemotherapy would have on Noah, whose cancer had gone into remission.

After researching alternative treatments, they found a doctor specializing in holistic medicine who recommended a healthier diet along with supplements to boost Noah's immune system.

The parents put him back on chemotherapy after the cancer returned four months later.

Clearly this was a bad decision.  It should have been at the time but in their state I'm hard pressed to put FULL blame on the parents.  It must be terrible to suffer through something like this, but I can not let it excuse the behavior all together. With the cancer in remission the boy more than likely would have survived until the parents turned to alternative medicine. That loss of chance is the parents fault.

This raises the interesting question:
At what point is 'parents choice' child neglect or endangerment?  

We have decided that the government can force anyone to wear seat belts, forbidden parents from spanking to hard and teachers from touching at all, have made many substances illegal to protect people from themselves, and have even outlawed suicide.  However, it is acceptable to allow parents to use 'holistic' medicine to treat cancer in their 11 year old.  Inevitably resulting in his death.  
---

I think I support the parents right to chose the course of action they think is best for their child.  This can include non-treatment or alternative (read sham) medicines.  In this case, with tragic results.  But more often than not, I will trust a parent over the government.

Nonetheless, an interesting point of discussion.

[Conan71]

I've watched several friends with leukemia and other cancers die of complications from chemo-therapy.  I can't say I fault the parents, they did what they felt was in the best interest of their child and they probably were frightened by the side-effects of chemo.

It's one of those things we can't say how we will react until we are in the same situation.

Depending on the type of leukemia, five years can be a long time.  Hopefully, he had a better quality of life in the period w/o the chemo.  Since five-plus years elapsed, I doubt the lapse in chemo killed him.

[sgrizzle]

It says he was only treated "holistically" for 4 months. I would guess the 4 months of no chemo didn't make up for the additional year or two he went through before dying.

[iplaw]

One of the unfortunate side-effects of chemo and radiation is that it destroys your immune system.  These treatments actually kill off the villi in your small intestine that allow you to absorb nutrients (which is why patients often develop cachexia)and it kills the bacteria in your digestive system that comprises about 80% of your immune system.  

I'm assuming by the time this kid tried alternative medicine his body was too shot to see any benefit...

On a side note, a healthier diet and a boost to the immune system would be of benefit to all of us.