Nemenhah Parents Willing to Let Son Die Rather Than Abandon Religious Beliefs

Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a relatively curable disease:

The survival rate is generally 90% or higher when the disease is detected during early stages, making it one of the more curable forms of cancer…

Most patients who are able to be successfully treated (and thus enter remission) generally go on and live long and normal lives, due to a remission success rate of 90% to 95%.

Of course, if your mother is a religious nut who refuses to let you have that treatment, that success rate would go down considerably, to under 5%. Ditto if she’s brainwashed you to think you shouldn’t want that treatment.

The mother of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser testified Friday that she and her son would refuse to comply with any court order requiring the boy to resume chemotherapy for his cancer.

“Danny clearly made up his mind. He’s not doing it,” Colleen Hauser, of Sleepy Eye, Minn., testified on the opening day of a trial over whether a court should order the boy into medical treatment against the family’s wishes.

Hauser, whose son was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said conventional treatments such as chemotherapy conflict with the family’s religious beliefs. She said they prefer natural remedies such as herbs and vitamins.

There’s a much lengthier report on this case here.

Daniel, the teen, says that he is a “medicine man” and church elder in the American Indian religious organization Nemenhah. His parents are members though they are not American Indians.

Although both Daniel and his mother are refusing his treatment, the blame should rest squarely on the mother. She’s the one who is old enough to know better.

What sort of mother are you if there is a way to rescue your dying son and you refuse it? If he does die, what will she be thinking then? Whatever it is, I hope she’s thinking it while rotting in prison. She’s not fit to be a parent.

11-year-old Kara Neumann died because of religious parents who couldn’t look past their delusions to save their daughter. There’s no reason Daniel Hauser should suffer the same way.

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Iason Ouabache

Wait.. wasn’t this an episode of House?
Carl

The question I have is what effect the forcing of medical treatment will have on the boy. Clearly he has been indoctrinated into crazy beliefs, and so probably looks forward to heaven, which is why he’s not that fussed about dying. I wonder how he’ll feel in ten years, if he’s forced to have the treatment. Will he be grateful for the extra chance at life, or even more bitter and twisted and deluded?

Does anyone know of any other cases of state-forced medical, and how the recipients of the treatment feel about it years later?
Josh BA

Does anyone know of any other cases of state-forced medical, and how the recipients of the treatment feel about it years later?

They feel about it years later.
Sapphic Owl

If this was any other adult refusing treatment, without religion as a reason, authorities and family members would probably try having them committed.

But because this woman’s “reasoning” is religious, she’s not treated as the mental case that you or I would be.

What a crock.
NeuroLover

HA! Nice response, Josh BA. Though I would be interested in a real answer, too…
Chion

sorry to be the Heartless Atheist, but the world doesn’t need more people in it, and we also don’t need more superstitious insanity being spread through the generations. maybe we should just let nature take its course.

when i first heard of a case like this, where a young girl died from a totally curable condition, i was so angry! I thought, see what religion DOES to people? And then i realized, maybe we’re better off without them. After all, survival of the fittest…
Zar

Just wanted to point out that Nemenhah is not a real American Indian group. They’re plastic shamans. It is not recognized by any tribes; the real Indians are pissed at these people.
Tao Jones

Originally I was going to post something about how this is different than, say, Jehovah’s Witness parents refusing blood transfusions for their sextuplets.

But in (admittedly only) a few minutes of research, I read that the Nemenhah seem to be… fraudulent. With a suggested donation you can be “spiritually adopted” and take a “course” on their “traditional” healing methods which qualifies you as a Medicine Man within the group. This puts you in a curious legal standing where you have the protections and exemptions of the Federal Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act of 1993 (NAFERA).

It sounds like what the Universal Life Church is to the priesthood, Nemenhah is to medical professions.
Mike Haubrich, FCD

Yep; it is a front for selling natural remedies. Very new agey garbage dressed in phony aboriginal concepts.

Stephanie has a good piece at Quiche Moraine regarding this story and the age of reason/consent.

chion, what you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone on this blog is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
R.C. Moore

After all, survival of the fittest…
>/i>

Chion —

Do not appeal to Darwin to justify your warped views. (Assumption on my part as to what you are getting at, since the survival of the fittest is not even a quote of Darwin).

As an atheist, I value all human life, even that which has been indoctrinated by cults. I have not basis to think otherwise.
Educatedindian

This group Nemenhah is not what they claim to be. Most are not Native, and they certainly are not a band or tribe. Mostly they are a very bizarre collection of altmedicine people with some pseudo-Native claims or personas.

http://newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=1898.msg17637#msg17637
Frank

I’m all for the state intervening to save this kids life, of course. As to the psychological consequences, I think Josh BA is exactly right. However the kid may feel years down the road, it’s better than the alternative. The interesting question though is what happens when, as will most likely be the case, the kid dies? Should the parents be prosecuted for negligent homicide? What good would throwing them in jail serve? Would it actually function as a deterrent?
Brian Westley

Um, is there some difference between newly made-up shamans and native American shamans that I’m missing? One’s older, that’s all. And you can’t spell “shaman” without “sham.”
Leanstrum

This child has been psychologically abused by being indoctrinated with this dangerous and irrational tripe. As far as I’m concerned, this is an absolute no-brainer. The child needs proper medical treatment and the mother needs to go to prison if she tries to stop it. Josh BA is right: it doesn’t matter what the child ‘wants’ right now. No child wants to take bitter-tasting medicine either. Since his mother isn’t being a mother, somebody else needs to deliver the treatment he doesn’t want but desperately needs.

His mother’s ignorance is literally killing him. The problem I have is, this kind of upbringing is only considered ‘indoctrination’ by anyone at the point where it becomes dangerous. In principle, this isn’t true. Lies are lies, no matter how harmless they may seem.

The counterexample of Santa springs to mind, though.
Nick_O

Interesting conversation to be had in the comments.

I’m an atheist but I’m not a humanist. So while I don’t understand the boy and mother’s decision, and while I agree it’s a huge sham, I’m in no position to call the situation obscene or unfortunate.

They are acting on what they believe is true. I happen to think it’s woefully misguided. Still, I would never want the government or some other entitiy to enforce their will (medical treatment) if I held firm beliefs against it.
Leanstrum

Nick_O

Nobody likes the idea of a draconian government telling people what to think. But this shouldn’t be thought of as protecting someone from their own beliefs – this is protecting a child from his neglectful mother. It’s not surprising that he has absorbed the nonsense his mother has showered on him, but he may well grow up to realise that it is just that – nonsense. He needs to be given the chance to decide for himself if he wants to die from refusing medical treatment. He simply isn’t old enough yet, and at this rate he may never be.

You do not own your children – you are their guardian. When you fail at your job as spectacularly as this woman has, someone needs to step in. This is what governments are for, if nothing else.
GullWatcher

This puts you in a curious legal standing where you have the protections and exemptions of the Federal Native American Free Exercise of Religion Act of 1993 (NAFERA).

If anyone is having trouble reading between these lines (I did), apparently what it means is that they can practice medicine of the alternative kind without a license. Other kinds of alternative practicioners (naturopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors, oriental medical doctors, etc) do need to have licenses.

@R.C. Moore

As an atheist, I value all human life, even that which has been indoctrinated by cults.

As an atheist? What does that mean? It sounds as though you are speaking for all atheists, but who are you to say what they should value? If Chion doesn’t want to value human life, as an atheist, he has as much right to do so as you do to value it.
Corey Mondello

Now these parents won’t get my happy Mothers of Fathers day!!!
GullWatcher

@Leanstrum

As far as I’m concerned, this is an absolute no-brainer. The child needs proper medical treatment and the mother needs to go to prison if she tries to stop it. Josh BA is right: it doesn’t matter what the child ‘wants’ right now. No child wants to take bitter-tasting medicine either.

I have very little sympathy for the mother, who is an idiot, but this is not a no-brainer. It not like some other cases where it was simple basic treatment that a family refused for their child.

Unless you or a close family member has gone through chemotherapy, you have no idea what a hell it can be. If chemo for this form of cancer is anything like what I have seen, to compare it to taking a “bitter tasting medicine” shows a shallow and callous disregard of what they are asking of the child.

To do this without the child’s consent or understanding of its benefits is essentially torturing him for his own good. Even if the parent is a firm believer in modern medicine, and the kid understands that people are only trying to help him, it’s a hard thing to do to your child and an incredibly hard thing for a child to go through. For the doctors and judges involved, to force an unwilling child to go through this would probably cause them a lot of soul-searching, and if involved face-to-face with the treatment, some personal pain to find themselves doing that.

So, who exactly is this supposed to be a “no-brainer” for? Oh, that’s right, some random guy on the internet….
ATL-Apostate

Even though the boy is too young to consent to treatment, in the legal sense, he may still be old enough to assent to it. This is a fine distinction and the legality of it varies from state to state.

For example, when you perform a medical procedure on a teen, you have to get the legal consent signed by a parent (or guardian), but in many states, you must also get an “assent” form signed by the teen patient. Not sure if this applies for potentially life-saving treatments like the one in question. Most of my patients are babies, so this doesn’t come up much.

If there is no requirement for assent, the state could take custody of the boy and force treatment. If there is an assent rule in MN, then the boy will probably undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is competent (another legal term) to give assent. If he is deemed incompetent, then he may be treated without consent or assent.

Either way, this boy needs some real psychiatric / psychological counseling to deal with this.
Michael Nietzsche

Hi, Hello folks, I’ve had experience with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma… In fact, both my father and my brother suffered from the disease. My Brother was cured of it, by Chemo-therapy more than a dozen years ago and is living a happy life now. And my father, who actually had it twice, was cured the first time, lived ten years, and then at age 82 when it returned a second time, and he died from it. But age had a great deal to do with his death, at age 82. This strong, young 13 year old has an excellent chance of beating the disease if he goes ahead with the Chemo-Therapy, which though it can be unpleasant for a while, generally will give him the opportunity to live a full life. So, in my opinion, this “Mother”-f–ker is committing murder upon her own child, and should have the child taken away from her, for his own sake. Remember what Forrest Gump said: “STUPID IS, AS STUPID DOES”! Put this mother in jail for her pre-meditated murder, and then show the child successful living people who have been cured of his disease. Open his eyes away from the damaging influence of his mother. Isn’t it a shame that she can’t just be injected with this cancer? That would be my punishment for her.
Leanstrum

@GullWatcher

Thanks for your reply. First of all, remember that we are all “some random guy on the internet” here, and we are all giving our opinions. Mine is that this is an easy decision – but at no point did I say that that decision is without its drawbacks.

I’m fully aware that chemotherapy is a tough thing to go through – and I don’t have to have experienced it first-hand to understand that in principle. Treatment will be a traumatic experience for the child, as it would be for any, though this would be worsened by his lack of parental support from being taken into care. The mother will still be to blame for the added distress. I think the decision is easy because the alternative is much, much worse. The child will die before he has a chance to allow his character to guide him to his beliefs, instead of his mother. He will die painfully. No death from cancer is really peaceful, and it will be considerably worse without the palliative treatment his mother will also no doubt refuse.

That’s why I think it’s a no-brainer. I know this isn’t a choice between a chocolate truffle and a pile of manure. But some evils are quite obviously lesser. You may disagree, and that’s fine, but neither of our opinions actually matters here.

Take care
Chion

Mike,

Tell me how you really feel! 😀

so you know, I’m not intending to respond to these religious decisions from a viewpoint of anything touchy-feely. If any animal neglects its young, you can either involve yourself and intervene, or let them go, let nature take its course. Of COURSE i value human life, i’m just throwing a thought out there that i’m certainly not the only one to think. Sorry i got under your skin, i hope you recover from reading my post!!! I think you’ll be alright. 🙂
gribblethemunchkin

Hmmm, i’m very much of two minds on this one. I’m a great believer in the right of people to choose what is done to their bodies, including the right to choose to die.

On the other hand this woman and her son aren’t choosing to die but are choosing to do all the things you’d need to do to die, while simultaneously thinking it’ll make them well.

I’m not sure of the power of the law to interfere here but probably the best thing that could be done is to have the mother sectioned and put the kid in counselling and chemo together. But who knows if that’d work.

Almost certainly though, no one wants to be the person to open up a can of worms by forcing this woman and her kid to go against their religious beliefs. So the kid is most likely going to die. The best we can realistically hope for is that it’ll be a huge kick in the reason for other followers of this BS. But thats unlikely too.
Mike Haubrich, FCD

Actually, chion, I cribbed that from Billy Madison and have been itching for the opportunity to use it. The mother has said that she will allow the chemo if that is what Danny and the Doctors finally decide on, but the point is that she has chosen a “religion” for her son which allows him to have an adult-level decision which he is clearly not ready for. And as many people have pointed out, it is a religion invented in order to circumvent specific laws on licensing. The kid has a guardian ad litem to represent his best interests, if not his immediate wishes.

If I was 13 and my parents told me that the spirits had a better way, I would be more predisposed to believe their nonsense than I would at 18.
chion

Mike,

Phew! I was totally thrown off by the “may god have mercy on your soul” part! I’m honored to have expedited your Billy Madison monologue. 🙂

I hear where you’re coming from! He’s also a 13 year old boy who thinks, like most 13 year olds, that he knows everything. Gribble touched on the right-to-die concept, which is absolutely applicable, just as much as the right-to-life side is. There’s no right answer to everybody, which is what makes this so interesting to talk about.

Thanks for writing back! 🙂
Sabio

I think most Libertarian Skeptics would rather live in a world where children unfortunately die at the hands of their ignorant parents than a world were the state is in charge of the children. I think we always have to realize that there are compromises in every model of society. We just have to chose our compromise.
hoverFrog

There’s a Darwin Award in this sorry tale somewhere but it’s too disheartening to see.
anonymouse

Chion said
“sorry to be the Heartless Atheist, but the world doesn’t need more people in it, and we also don’t need more superstitious insanity being spread through the generations. maybe we should just let nature take its course.. And then i realized, maybe we’re better off without them. After all, survival of the fittest…”

You are forgetting he is a CHILD and essentially has no say in the matter. Look at his picture and tell me you feel nothing. He doesn’t deserve that. Looking at his picture breaks my heart.
MC Pickard

FYI: The Nuemann trail will come to court at the end of July. Look for the parents to argue religious freedom. IMO, an admission of guilt to the parent’s failed faith healing.
Jeff Stone

To all pro-aborts commenting here, wanting the State to step in on a family matter:
When a judge steps in to stop a parent from causing a painful and horrendous end to the life of an innocent child by abortion, then I will buy into your arguments of how this judge did the right thing.

Go fix your own hypocrisy and come back with a reasoned answer.
Another Nut Job

While I do NOT agree with the parents belief specifically, I am concerned when a government can interfere with the parent and childs rights. SInce when is it ok to force medical procedures on parents? I just don’t get it.

I have respect for their faith. I think it is misguided, but I respect that they believe enough not to be bullied into something and go with what the doctors said.

If they had wisdom, they wouldn’t fight it or teach that way, but they are and have been.

I just don’t like the governments involvement with child care. And no I am not one of them.

Someday this world will have to come togther, and all people will have to grow and graft into one. These people haven’t grown yet. Pitty them, but respect them for their coviction.

I am not one of them but, I am outside the societal “norm” box so to speak, therefore a nut job.
Diana Gainer

The boy in this case does not understand that he is sick, due to the influence of his parents. Nemenhah is not a real Native American tribe. It is an ersatz group peddling pseudo-religious beliefs for a $250 initial required but “voluntary donation” to be followed by $100 “donations” thereafter, plus $30 per “course,” as they teach the gullible how to become medicine men and women. You buy your way into being an Indian. Only not really of course. The boy will die. The mama will be sad. But it will be God’s will. That’s how it has always worked. Except the judge said he wasn’t going along with that and would insist the boy got real medical treatment. Good for him. Let the boy choose his faith when he grows up. IF.
kev

Wait… arent they roman catholic? What are they doing playing with other peoples religion?
tianda

Who are we to judge what they want for their child? chemo is a hard thing to go thru and there is NOT a 100% recovery rate with it. the side effects are cruel how would you feel if your child was puking his guts up from his toes had sores in his mouth loosing his hair by the handfuls didnt have the energy to get up to go to the bathroom on his own, didnt want to smile or laugh all in the HOPES of him living a while longer. while we never want to imagine loosing a child and would do what ever we thought was best from our beliefs for our child in the end its between the parents and boy who knows what he is going thru to make that decesion, if we keep letting the government in and out of our lives to decided whats best for us eventually we will be in a communist state. while i would try everything medically for my child if my child said no more i dont want that i would respect my child at 13 this boy knows how he feels and believes. I hope they change their minds and try medically to help but i respect there decesion only God knows when and how a person dies and no one can stop ya from dying its something everyone must go thru no matter what.
squid1953

I’m not an atheist, but I’ll give you this: Religion is not going to cure him, medicine will. You guys are right about all this. Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opiate of the people.” You better believe it. In the real world, in real time, God won’t bring his Hodgkin’s into remission. A REAL “medicine man” (an oncologist) will. This woman is just a stupid cow.
Heartbroken Mom

Have you held your child as she suffered through 7 months of chemotherapy treatment? Have you ever been told that the survival rate for your beautiful daughter was 86%? We did all of the right things, all of the treatment protocols. Our precious little girl lost her ability to eat, to walk, to stand and she lost her sight. She lost everything and suffered greatly. I know. I was there every second of every procedure.
Do you really think that you have the right to judge anyone with your limited understanding of the reality of pediatric cancer, and what chemotherapy does and does not do? The toxicity almost killed my daughter.
Walk a mile. Walk a minute in the heartache of a mom whose child has cancer.
Statistics are only numbers.
I have a name. A face. A love greater than this world can hold.
My daughter died despite all the medicine and the science. She suffered. It is heartbreaking.
Nazonee

Wow, has any ONE of you ever been the product of a medical mistake? I have. I was given HEP C tainted blood in the late 80’s. By the middle 90’s was VERY ill. I was told to get my life in order. Yeap, 3 young kids at home and I need to make decisions for them. Wow, and stress exasperates the disease, according to the doctor. I tried the medical way and just got worse and worse. At one point some radical hospital employee thought it would be better for my children to be placed in foster care as I was too ill to care for them. According to her. Thankfully, the state didn’t agree with her. I stopped ALL MEDICAL treatment after that. I started rsearching Native American Healing and then incorporated it into my life. After a long and arduous 4 years, I had gone for my bi-annual blood draw and was told I had antibodies. The presence of them means that I AM CURED of the disease. I would indeed use the TRUE traditional treatments (Native American) from this point on in the face of illness. This is not a religious stance this is a commmon sense one.
greystone

I think the confusing issues to all of this are
1: There is a 13 year old boy living in Minnesota who is functionally illiterate, even though he was apparently home schooled by his Mother.
2: This is a 13 year old boy who is considered a “Medicine Man and Elder” of his religious affiliation even though he has been a member of this for less than 1 year.
3: People are feeling sorry for this family even though before their supposed epiphany they were fully behind their Family Doctor and diagnosis prior to the “conversion”. What real religion requires a $250.00 initial donation in order to join the “”Church”” I am part Native American and I do not support this families thought patterns. They are only ensuring the death of their son.
Nazonee

Greystone, I too am part Native American but my beliefs in the benefits of Native American Medicine does not have anything to do with that. I for the most part do believe this whole family in search of a “better” treatment of their ill child has been led down the path by Nemenhah but…I am still a firm believer in the benfits of the true traditional medicine…that which was used PRIOR to big business being involved.
Think about all the designer drugs and the damage they do. One to grow hair on men that women should never even touch if they plan to become pregnant in the future. One to make you stop urinating on yourself when the bladder finally has gotten tired, that affects the liver and your eye sight. We need to go back to the basics. Native Americans used natural resources to treat illness. I do not think that life expectancy was ever supposed to be into the 100 yr range. Due to “modern medicine” we live longer causing over crowding of the planet along with the rampant use of resources. We have created a mess here. As far as this family is concerned the government needs to say out of it! Their child, their life, and their guilt or success. It should be left up to them.
Christian

This issue has nothing to do with religion. Danial went for chemo, he found it painful and i made him more sick so he did not want to go. Not wanting to have their son be in any more pain, they did not make him go. It’s that simple. It may not be the right choice, but it is not one based on religion. You atheists exploit anything you can to bash religion and this is just the latest example. You like to claim religious people are deluded, brainwashed, etc. These are but fallacious, untenable arguments based on your anti-religion bigotry. Oh and did you know one of your more famous atheist intellectuals, Bill Maher, refuses “western medicine?” Among other things, he claims aspirin is lethal and polio has not been eradicated and advised David Letterman not to take his medication after he had undergone heart bypass surgery. Oh but you know only religious people can be deluded.
Jonny

Please be informed that the Hauser family and their connection with the
Nemenheh (spelling?) movement is not Native American and Native
Americans have no connection with this family. The news keeps implying
that this family is following Native traditions and using native herbs.

They have also used the word “sweat lodge” in one of the news articles
that I read. I would hope that the general public knows that we as
native people have no ties to them, no native spiritual people are
involved with them and by all means, as Native people, we do not condone

any of their actions. They are using us and we want to let everyone
know that we object. Please don’t let them give us a bad name.

These are new age people and have no link to our Native American
communities.

We do pray, however, that this young boy who has cancer gets the medical

help that he needs to survive.
Ohreally

Carl said:

The question I have is what effect the forcing of medical treatment will have on the boy. Clearly he has been indoctrinated into crazy beliefs, and so probably looks forward to heaven,

This is BS… you are making assumptions and propagating them as truth of which you have no monopoly. There is definitely a media spin on this.

I understand you question religion as do it… but do not become arrogant that is when you stop learning.

Great video: zeitgeist Goggle video

and for Cancer… check out “world without cancer” G. Edward Griffin.

I personally know 3 survivors using this method.
flubby

The court shouldn’t interfere with natural selection. The mother was clearly gunning for a Darwin Award.
GullWatcher

@ohreally

I personally know 3 survivors using this method

Oh, puhleeze! If any alternative treatment has been completely debunked, it’s laetrile for cancer. Anyone who is still hawking it to scared, desperate people with cancer at this late date is either stupidly irresponsible, after their money, or evil.
Lawrence V

It helps to think of medical and court system as representing religious view perhaps American Civil Religion is appropriate term. Atheists are part of this belief system as is clear from this website.

If individuals spiritual/religious views are in conflict, as parents of children, they have no rights in this setting.

“Daniel Hauser has Hodgkin’s lymphoma.” This is medical term and subject to medical debate.”

Mark 5.9And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.” What’s your diagnosis? What is the true identity of your self? What is the true identity of your affliction? The medical system treats symptoms or end results. Hodgkin’s is a systemic immune function disease. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/26/Powerful-Breakthrough-Beats-Cancer-and-AutoImmune-Diseases.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17761642?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
” New Ulm, Minn. — After a week in California the mother and son returned home; they had intended to go to Mexico for alternative medical treatment. The parents appeared at a custody hearing Tuesday afternoon and was allowed to keep custody of the boy.

Brown County Attorney Jim Olson said on Monday the family was still opposed to treating the boy’s cancer with chemo.
Larger view
Arriving at the courthouse

“The Hausers were at Children’s Hospital over Memorial Day,” Olson said. “Danny had some tests at the hospital. “They communicated to one of Brown County’s social workers that they were not going to have him undergo chemo. There was some epiphany that they had changed their minds. They told the judge that they were going to be compliant.”

Jesus crossed boundary to Gentile territory. Gadarene demoniac could not be bound by local chains. You cannot force medical compliance or adherence. Google those terms.

Gadarene/Daniel had been separated from his family. His healing by Jesus represented economic threat to community. See Swine Flu–Pork prices are down.

“Their attitude has been — and I am assuming remains — that chemo is poison. So I felt that with that underlying attitude, that certainly wasn’t going to be beneficial to Danny in trying to convince him to undergo chemotherapy.” I think that every medical doctor would consider chemo poison.

“Daniel Hauser’s tumor has grown substantially according to medical records released by the Brown County Court. A CT scan conducted on Monday shows the tumor in his chest is now larger than it was in January, when he was first diagnosed. Brown County Attorney Jim Olson said the tumor is pressing against Daniel’s thorax.”

According to naturopathy, which I do not practice, could this be a sign of healing. Hodgkin’s is actually an immune system failure and the tumors are localized appearance of systemic illness. His is nodular sclerosing which means “hard bumps”–sounds demonic when not in Greek tongue. See Gadarene from Decapolis above.

According to medical approach, which is statistical and not individual, Daniel has 5% survival chance without therapy. In this case treatment would be unnecessary and involve 100% of patients. 10% of treated will die anyway. At least some of these would have been in group that would have gotten better without any treatment. What is total cost of treating !00%? Who is expected to pay for it?

Who should get to decide? The medical and legal system have economic interests in their world view/religion being upheld.

.