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A severely disabled 14-year-old girl with the developmental capacity of a toddler will be “chained” and forced to undergo painful cancer treatment after a landmark court ruling.
The teenager, who suffers from developmental problems and drug-resistant epilepsy, will begin treatment on Thursday despite desperate pleas from her family to let her “die peacefully”.
He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at a base hospital in rural New South Wales on March 5.
The hospital, which cannot be identified for privacy reasons, has applied to the NSW Supreme Court to allow her cancer treatment after her mother requested that her daughter receive palliative care.
The court heard the mother wanted to avoid the “pain and suffering” her daughter would face during chemotherapy.
Suffering up to 10 seizures per week, the adolescent has a developmental age of approximately 16 to 18 months.
A 14-year-old girl with serious developmental problems will be forced to undergo cancer treatment despite her doctor’s warnings she would likely need to be ‘chained’.
However, she “can experience up to six attacks, within the same cluster, per day.”
“(The mother’s) wishes are not based on any religious or cultural beliefs,” the court said. news.com.au reported.
“They stem entirely from his love for his daughter and his desire to prevent further suffering for an already medically disabled child.”
His call for the 14-year-old not to receive cancer treatment is backed by the girl’s pediatrician, who told the court he treated her first seizure when she was just 18 weeks.
He added that it was likely the teenager would have to be “chained” to undergo cancer treatment as she had always been a difficult patient.
She has already removed two cannulas from her arm and removed a nasogastric tube.
The day before her cancer diagnosis, she had to be “forcibly held down for two hours” to receive a blood transfusion.
The pediatrician expressed his belief that the girl “would not tolerate the painful procedures associated with chemotherapy.”
She might also need “extremely intensive” procedures, such as a bone marrow transplant.
“I therefore support and accept the mother’s decision that it is not in (the patient’s) best interests to attempt curative chemotherapy, as I have no doubt that she will not tolerate this intrusive intervention,” said the pediatrician.
The hospital, which cannot be identified for privacy reasons, has applied to the NSW Supreme Court to allow her cancer treatment after her mother requested that her daughter receive palliative care.
Despite the doctor’s advice and the mother’s wishes, Judge Michael Elkaim SC decided to allow the hospital to treat the girl’s cancer.
He admitted the treatment would be difficult, but added that “that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be undertaken.”
The judge added that ruling that the girl receive palliative care would amount to a “death sentence” as she would likely die within four weeks without treatment.
The hospital is expected to begin treatment on Thursday, March 21, and the case will return to court to monitor the girl’s progress on June 14.