Parker Jensen's Parents Suing State Of Utah

what would you think about this, having the medical establishment trying to force the parents to do chemotherapy on that boy? does anyone know more about this story?

http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_199204156.html

The parents of Parker Jensen, the boy once at the center of a fierce custody battle over orders to treat his cancer with chemotherapy, are suing the state, its child welfare system and Primary Children's Medical Center.

Also named in the documents filed late Monday in 3rd District Court were four doctors who diagnosed the then 12-year-old boy, along with a state social worker and an attorney.

Claiming emotional distress, Daren and Barbara Jensen are asking for unspecified damages and want the case to go before a jury.

The Jensens claim that under the U.S. Constitution, they had the right to direct care for their son and to refuse medical treatments.

They contend the state violated those rights when it sought custody of Parker in order to force medical care under the guidance of physicians his parents had not selected.

Spokesmen for the Utah Attorney General's office, the Division and Child and Family Services and the hospital said they could not offer comment because their agencies had not served with the lawsuit.

A telephone message left by The Associated Press to the Jensens' attorney, Roger P. Christensen, was not immediately returned and the Jensens could not be reached at their Sandy home.

Two years ago, the Jensens were charged with felony kidnapping and medical neglect for refusing chemotherapy treatments recommended for their son, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as Ewing's sarcoma, an aggressive form of cancer that doctors said could reappear and spread rapidly through his body, even though he seemed healthy at the time.

The lawsuit alleges that physicians at Primary Children's failed to complete _ and in some instances refused _ sufficient additional tests to accurately diagnose the disease, which according to court documents is almost always discovered in bones. Parker's irregular cells were detected in a soft-tissue nodule inside his mouth.

Court documents also state that every test performed on the boy failed to reveal abnormalities in any other cells. Parker's blood tests were normal and a full-body bone scan also showed nothing.

Unsure about the accuracy of the diagnosis and fearing that chemotherapy could make Parker sicker than the cancer, cause other illnesses, stunt his growth or leave him sterile, the Jensens began to seek treatment alternatives.

The lawsuit said that when they sought to have a second opinion at another medical facility, they were threatened by a doctor with being forced to have the boy undergo the chemotherapy.

From there the hospital reported the Sandy couple to the Division of Child and Family Services and a series of hearings that essentially ended when the couple fled with their children to Idaho and Salt Lake County prosecutors filed criminal charges.

The parents then agreed to a round of tests by an Idaho oncologist, and to abide by his treatment recommendation. That doctor also recommended chemotherapy, but the Jensens maintained the tests did not show signs of cancer in Parker's body. Doctors said the blood tests could not detect microscopic cancer cells.

The charges eventually were dropped, although the couple did plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of custodial interference and were sentenced to probation, which ended last October.

Parker, now 14, appears to be well and healthy. The family has become a fixture on Utah's Capitol Hill, where they lobby lawmakers for legislation to strengthen the rights of parents.