Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: Physician Responsibilities in a World of CAMIn 2009 the family of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, refused chemotherapy in favor of "alternative medicines," despite a predicted 90-percent chance of cure with chemo.As members of the Nemenhah Band, a religious organization that advocates natural healing based in Native American tradition, they believed that dietary changes, sweat lodge visits, and herbal supplements would prove superior to chemotherapy, and thus declined it.Physicians brought the case to court, and after ruling that Daniel had been "medically neglected," the judge ordered that he proceed with infusions.In a last-ditch effort to avoid this, he and his mother fled their home state of Minnesota, but within a week reluctantly returned, daunted by the potential legal consequences [1].Daniel received his chemotherapy and is now in full remission, but the Hausers remain firmly convinced that he would have been better off without it.
Source: The AMA Journal of Ethic
Author: Kara J. Gulewicz
Institution: Washington University in St. Louis
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W86959431