Judge Lifts Order Requiring Treatment

A 16-year-old Chincoteague boy with Hodgkin's disease was given a reprieve this afternoon from the cancer treatments he doesn’t want.

Accomack County Circuit Court Judge Glen Tyler suspended lower court orders that the parents of Abraham Cherrix report to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk today and give their consent to whatever treatment the hospital deemed necessary.

Abraham wants to continue an alternative treatment called the Hoxsey method, which consists of herbal supplements and an organic diet. He has been using the method since visiting a clinic that administers the treatment in Tijuana, Mexico, in March.

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The case has drawn sharply divided opinions nationwide, with some maintaining that government has no right to interfere in a family’s health choices, and others believing that Abraham needs to resume chemotherapy to save his life.

Judge Tyler should be commended for standing up for parent's (and patient's) rights. While many think Chemo is the end-all beat-all for treating cancer, it does not always work, nor is it always the best option.

Abraham had chemo the first time. It did not work. So the experts, aka people who love shoving their noses in other people's business, think it's better for him to keep poisoning his body because they thing it's his "best option".

I have known quite a few people who succumbed to cancer. In most of those cases it was not the chemotherapy, or alternative treatments that saved them. It was the loss of hope that killed them.

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