Boy With Cancer, Mom On The Run

Boy Minnesota Warrant Out For Mom Of Minnesota 13-Year-Old Ordered To Seek Chemotherapy..

by Associated Press

Published: Wed, May 20, 2009 - 10:54 am CST

(AP) Authorities nationwide were on the lookout Wednesday for a mother and her 13-year-old cancer-stricken son who fled after refusing the chemotherapy that doctors say could save the boy's life.

Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma, apparently left their southern Minnesota home sometime after a doctor's appointment and court-ordered X-ray on Monday showed his tumor had grown.

Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg, who had ruled last week that Daniel's parents were medically neglecting him, issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Colleen Hauser and ruled her in contempt of court. Rodenberg also ordered that Daniel be placed in foster care and immediately evaluated by a cancer specialist for treatment.

The family belongs to a religious group that believes in "natural" healing methods. Daniel has testified he believed chemotherapy would kill him and told the judge that if anyone tried to force him to take it, "I'd fight it. I'd punch them and I'd kick them."

The boy's father, Anthony Hauser, testified he didn't know where his wife and son were but had made no attempt to find them. He testified he last saw his son Monday morning, and he saw his wife only briefly that evening when she said she was leaving "for a time."

As of Wednesday morning, the mother and son still had not been found, said Carl Rolloff, a sheriff's dispatcher.

Officials distributed the arrest warrant nationwide. Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffman said Tuesday that investigators were following some leads locally, but declined to elaborate.

"It's absolutely crazy. It's very disappointing," James Olson, the attorney representing Brown County Family Services. "We're trying to do what's right for this young man."

A message left at the Hauser home in Sleepy Eye early Wednesday wasn't immediately returned. But in an interview in Wednesday's editions of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Anthony Hauser said he knew places where his wife might have gone though he did not know where she was.

He said he and his wife had a plan for Tuesday's hearing and he was a "bit disappointed" she didn't follow it. "We were going to present a treatment plan to the court. If they didn't go with it, we would appeal it," he told the newspaper.

"I know many people around here who have had cancer, they did the chemo, it would come back," Hauser told the newspaper. "They did the chemo again and again and they are all in the grave. Chemo isn't foolproof."

Olson, the family services lawyer, had considered asking the judge to hold Anthony Hauser in contempt as well, but he said Wednesday he decided against that.

"I'm thinking that he probably doesn't know where his wife and child are," Olson said.

Daniel's Hodgkin's lymphoma, diagnosed in January, is considered highly curable with chemotherapy and radiation, but the boy quit chemo after a single treatment.

The judge has said Daniel, who has a learning disability and cannot read, did not understand the risks and benefits of chemotherapy and didn't believe he was ill.

The Hausers are Roman Catholic and also believe in the "do no harm" philosophy of the Nemenhah Band, a Missouri-based religious group that believes in natural healing methods advocated by some American Indians. Colleen Hauser testified earlier that she had been treating his cancer with herbal supplements, vitamins, ionized water and other natural alternatives.

The founder of Nemenhah, Philip Cloudpiler Landis, said it was a bad idea for Colleen Hauser to flee with her son. "You don't solve anything by disregarding the order of the judge," Landis said.

The family's doctor, James Joyce, testified by telephone that he examined Daniel on Monday, and that an X-ray showed his tumor had grown to the size it was when he was first diagnosed.

"He had basically gotten back all the trouble he had in January," the doctor said.

Joyce testified that he offered to make appointments for Daniel with oncologists, but the Hausers declined, then left in a rush with lawyer Susan Daya.

"Under Susan Daya's urging, they indicated they had other places to go," Joyce said.

Daya did not immediately respond to a call Tuesday from The Associated Press. The court also tried to reach her during the hearing, but got no answer.

Minnesota statutes require parents to provide necessary medical care for a child, Rodenberg wrote. The statutes say alternative and complementary health care methods aren't enough.

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barefootangel Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 4:56 pm

KX, i sent you a pm they didn’t post my answer.

KxVicious Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 2:03 pm

What did he have and what did you treat him with?

barefootangel Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 1:57 pm

When my middle son was six, he had a disease that 1 in 1 million people might get. I took him to the doctor every week for three months for treatment. He never got any better. One morning, I got up and said, Today, I am your doctor and started treating him myself. Within two months, my son was well. Sometime, I don’t know but what the parent knows their child better than anyone else.

Tank_Girl20 Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 11:51 am

Exactly. Thanks Kathy.

Kathy Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:52 am

Tank_Girl20 you make a good point.

If they are going to force the child to do the treatments the most important thing he will need to get better and be able to deal with it is his family. They are making a bad situation even worse.

Tank_Girl20 Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:47 am

I agree with KxVicious.

On another note though, say he gets chemo and survives, everything he’d ever known would be ripped away from him. He’d lose his family due to the court and whatnot. I think that’s a threat best left un-made. It doesn’t exactly make a quick return anymore appealing, ya know.

KxVicious Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:46 am

Kathy, welcome to the apparently Facist States of America.

“The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”

goldie Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:34 am

sad

Kathy Says:

Thu, May 21, 2009 at 9:30 am

I fell extremely sad for this family. I myself have two small children and would do anything to keep them safe and healthy. The article states that the family belongs to a religious group that believes in “natural” healing methods. If that is true and the are not just using it as an excuse not to treat the child. If the Judge ruled that the parents are medically neglecting him then what about the people who do not vaccinate their children. I get my children vaccinated but what if they go to the store or park and play with a child who is not and has something that could have been prevented. Who would know a child better than their parents to decide if the child knew what he was doing when he said no to treatment. I watched the Law and Order show that was on 5/20/09 and it was about almost the same thing but about HIV and AIDS. Is the Government now going to force EVERYONE to get medical treatment if they can not afford it or do not believe in it?

smason Says:

Wed, May 20, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Kx- A child, especially one that cannot read or write, cannot determine what is best for itself. It cannot make decisions as an adult. That is a parents duty, and these are inept. In that case, someone must step in so this child does not die from a disease that is, in his case, highly curable with treatment. It’s about a life.