Judge Lifts
Order for Cancer Treatment
By SONJA BARISIC
Associated Press Writer
Originally published July 25, 2006, 6:59 PM EDT
ACCOMAC, Va. // A judge ruled Tuesday that a
16-year-old cancer patient who has refused
conventional medical treatment does not have to
report to a hospital as previously ordered and
scheduled a trial to settle the dispute.
Starchild Abraham Cherrix, who is battling Hodgkin's
disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system, refused a
second round of chemotherapy when he learned early
this year that the cancer had returned.
Abraham chose to instead go on a sugar-free, organic
diet and take herbal supplements under the
supervision of a clinic in Mexico.
A social worker asked a juvenile court judge to
require the teen to continue conventional treatment,
and the judge on Friday ordered Abraham to report to
a hospital Tuesday. But Accomack County Circuit
Court Judge Glen A. Tyler suspended the judge's
order.
"I feel free today. I was let off the leash,"
Abraham said after Tyler agreed to a stay and set a
trial date of Aug. 16.
Tyler also ended joint custody of Abraham between
his parents and social services officials.
Carl Bundick, an attorney for the department, told
the judge the department would not object, provided
a new trial takes place quickly.
"What the department is interested in is this young
man being cured of cancer," Bundick said.
In a similar case last year, the parents of
13-year-old Hodgkin's disease patient Katie Wernecke
won the right in November to make all her medical
decisions after a court fight with Texas child
welfare officials. Doctors had recommended
chemotherapy and radiation; her father favored a
program of intravenous vitamin C.
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On the Net:
Abraham Cherrix:
http://www.abrahamsjourney.com
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/he … -headlines