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The department gained temporary custody of the 17-year-old,
identified as “Cassandra C” in court documents, after she and
her mother, Jackie Fortin, fought for her right to discontinue
treatment despite her risk of dying.
The state department indicated in a statement on Sunday that the
treatment has worked even faster than anticipated.
"We are very pleased with Cassandra's progress toward a complete
recovery," said Joette Katz, Commissioner of the state's
Department of Children and Families (DCF).
"We have had full confidence throughout that the medical
professionals involved in her treatment would be successful in
saving her life."
The girl was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in September.
After surgery failed to rid her of the cancer, she underwent two
rounds of chemotherapy before asking that treatments be stopped,
then ran away from home to avoid further treatment.
DCF took custody of the case and continued treatments which
doctors said were essential for her survival. Treatments were
ordered for at least six months, which doctors said gave her an
85 percent chance of survival, versus a "near certainty of death
within two years" without chemotherapy.
Attorneys for the girl and her mother said she should be treated
as a "mature minor," with the legal right to reject medical care
she did not want, an approach recognized in some states but not
in Connecticut.
The state's top court rejected her bid, with state Assistant
Attorney General John Tucker saying that halting treatment
"would almost certainly result in her death."
Neither Fortin's attorney Michael Taylor nor Cassandra's
court-appointed public defender Joshua Michtom could be reached
for comment on Sunday.
(Editing by Chris Michaud)
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