Top Connecticut court to hear arguments
on teen's cancer care
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[January 08, 2015] By
Richard Weizel
HARTFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - A Connecticut
teenager diagnosed with cancer, who has been forced for the past month
to receive state-ordered chemotherapy over her family's objections, will
ask the state's top court on Thursday to order a stop to the treatments.
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The teen was diagnosed with what doctors say is an aggressive, but
curable cancer in September, days before her 17th birthday. After
surgery failed to rid her of Hodgkin's lymphoma, she had two rounds
of chemotherapy before asking that the treatments be stopped.
At that point, the state's Department of Children and Families
stepped in and took the teen, identified in court papers as
"Cassandra C.," into custody and continued the treatments that
doctors contend are essential if she is to survive.
A lower court upheld the state's right to intervene, while the teen
and her mother, Jackie Fortin, argued that she should be treated as
a "mature minor," who has the legal right to reject medical care if
she does not want it.
It is not clear why the teen and her mother oppose the continued
treatment, although Fortin said in a statement her daughter had to
be strapped down during recent chemotherapy treatments.
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The state's Supreme Court has scheduled a rare expedited hearing on
Thursday that will include arguments from attorneys for the girl,
her mother and the state.
Doctors say in court documents the teen has "an 85 percent chance of
survival with the chemo treatments, but if left untreated," faces a
"near certainty of death within two years."
The case will likely hinge on whether the court recognizes the idea
of a "mature minor," which is settled law in some U.S. states but
not Connecticut.
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Attorneys for the state argued in court papers that is a question
for the Legislature, not the courts, to decide.
But Cassandra's lawyer, assistant public defender Joshua Michtom,
said it would be appropriate for the court to rule.
"It's hard to imagine a situation in our country where an ordinary
17-year-old should be forced to take chemotherapy against her will,"
Michtom said. "Adults get to choose the care we get and don't get,
even care doctors say we need. Doesn't a mature minor have the same
right?"
(Editing by Scott Malone and Peter Cooney)
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