Cannabis, not chemo for son with leukemia says Ottawa father by Doug Hempstead Ottawa Sun September 12, 2013 An Ottawa father says he lost his parental decision-making rights Friday for refusing to allow doctors at CHEO to proceed with chemotherapy treatment for his 18-month-old sons leukemia. The man cant be named because the case is being handled by Childrens Aid. He claims the hospital hasnt provided him with enough written evidence of his sons condition and isnt receptive to his desire for alternative treatment options -- namely cannabis oil. Initially, he says, both he and his wife were against chemotherapy as an option. However, his wife signed off on the treatment just ahead of his court appearance. I told her she was dead to me, said the 23-year-old, easily overcome with emotion. Im kind of really mad at her, but I understand why she did what she did. At the court appearance, the father was given until Sept. 29 to come up with a convincing argument for why the hospital should consider cannabis oil as a treatment option for his son. Until then, he can stay in contact with his wife -- and even visit his son in hospital -- hes just not allowed to have a say in what happens. That was the courts decision. They removed all of my rights, but because my wife was willing to go along with chemotherapy, at the last minute, shes still allowed to see my kid, he said. He has now secured support from Canadian Medical Cannabis Partners, whose executive director Jennifer Collett is helping him with his case. Chemo is being forced on the parents and child, she said Friday. This is his fourth day in hospital and the family was informed of the diagnosis and ordered to comply or lose their child. Collett said all the parents are asking is for time to make an educated decision. She believes the decision for a childs medical care should rest with the parents. The little boy was first admitted to hospital Tuesday. Test results were ready by Wednesday which confirmed he had leukemia. According to the father, since his wife signed off on the treatment, it has already begun. The father, convinced cannabis oil will save his sons life, said he plans to make placards and demonstrate at Parliament Hill. My hope is that on the 29th, theyre going to see that this oil is going to save my sons life and theyre going to let him take it and theyre going to stop the chemo, he said. CHEO representatives were unable to be reached for comment by deadline. [email protected] Twitter: @DougHempstead ottawasun/2014/09/12/cannabis-not-chemo-for-son-with-leukemia-says-ottawa-father ---------------------------------------------------------- Father loses access to son with leukemia in fight over chemo at CHEO by Don Butler Ottawa Citizen September 13, 2014 A few days ago, Aiden Pedersen’s parents got the worst possible news. Their only child, 18-month-old Aiden, was diagnosed with leukemia by doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. “It’s a nightmare,” Aiden’s father, Marco Pedersen, said Friday. “The world came crashing down on him pretty hard.” But when CHEO doctors told Pedersen, 23, and his 20-year-old wife, Erica O’Laney, that Aiden needed to start chemotherapy immediately, they balked. Pedersen’s father, Mark Allen, is a close associate of Rick Simpson, a cannabis crusader who claims to have developed an oral hemp oil treatment that can cure many illnesses, including cancer. Pederson, a Vanier resident who has worked as a cook since he was 16, was convinced the hemp oil treatment would cure his ailing son. He was equally convinced that chemotherapy would do him harm. “I really can’t see it being a benefit to my little man,” Pedersen said in an interview. When he and his wife refused consent for chemotherapy, CHEO called in the Ottawa Children’s Aid Society. Aiden’s mother, Erica, caved in and signed a consent form, to her husband’s displeasure. “She got bullied into agreeing to the chemo because she wanted to be with her kid,” Pedersen said. “I can understand why she did it. “But at the same time, I’ve showed her all the information. Up until they were threatening to take my boy, she would have been all for the oil.” There’s no doubt where Pedersen stands. “I’m not budging. I’m his father. I’m supposed to be the wall.” But there are consequences to his position. “All my rights as a parent have been removed,” he said. “I don’t get to see my kid at all. He’s gone.” Because his wife signed the consent form, she is with Aiden at CHEO, where chemotherapy treatments were due to begin Friday. Eva Schacherl, a spokeswoman for CHEO, said she couldn’t comment on an individual case unless both parents give written consent. But, she said, if one or both parents refuse a standard medical treatment and that puts their child at risk, “we’re obliged under the Child and Family Services Act to report to the CAS. The CAS is then the arbiter of determining what’s in the child’s best interests.” Cases like this happen very rarely, Schacherl said. “We deal with thousands of patients, many dealing with cancer or other life-threatening conditions. We work very closely with them to give their children the best care possible.” Pedersen said he asked the doctors at CHEO to consider alternatives to chemotherapy for Aiden, but they refused. They also rejected his request for a second opinion, he said, and refused to release test results and diagnosis papers. Pedersen said he was given until Sept. 29 to marshal and present evidence that hemp oil, taken orally, is a credible alternative to chemotherapy. Jennifer Collett, a patient advocate and director of Canadian Medical Cannabis Partners, said “All the parents are asking for is time to make an educated decision, and they feel they have not been informed of all the options.” Instead, they were “threatened and publicly berated by the attending doctor.” Collett said the “powers that be” don’t want their authority questioned. “However, this child’s life is at risk, and every parent has a right and responsibility to protect their child from unsafe, bad policy.” Childhood leukemia once carried a poor prognosis. But that has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. Now, five-year survival rates for some forms of childhood leukemia are approaching 90 per cent. Even so, Marco Pedersen remains convinced that chemotherapy won’t save his young son’s life. “If he’d had this oil administered starting today,” he said, by the end of the month, “I honestly feel he’d be a really healthy little boy.” dbutler@ottawacitizen ottawacitizen/news/local-news/father-loses-access-to-son-with-leukemia-in-fight-over-chemo-at-cheo -------------------------------------------------- Photo: 18-month-old Aiden Pedersen, the toddler at the centre of a dispute over chemotherapy treatment, with his father, Marco Pedersen. via OttawaCitizen September 13, 2014
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 00:16:50 +0000
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