NoBlood

Jan B. Wade · #1 (**permalink**) 05-06-2005, 06:27 AM

N.Y. doctor says he was ready to treat B.C. girl for cancer

'It just doesn't make any sense that a person can't decide where they want to be treated'

Isabel Vincent
National Post

Thursday, May 05, 2005

A doctor at an elite children's hospital in New York City expressed shock and outrage yesterday when he learned that a 14-year-old Jehovah's Witness from British Columbia would not be allowed to seek treatment at his facility.

"We were totally speechless when we heard," said Dr. Michael Lacorte, who heads up the bloodless medical and surgical centre at Schneider Children's Hospital, where the girl was to begin a round of chemotherapy yesterday to treat her bone cancer. The girl did not want to be treated in British Columbia, where she would likely undergo blood transfusions -- a medical procedure contrary to her family's religious beliefs.

"It just doesn't make any sense that a person can't decide where they want to be treated," said Dr. Lacorte, who was told by the family's lawyer on Tuesday evening that she would not be arriving.

"We were prepared to give her the treatments. We talked to her on the phone. She was so sweet. Nobody here can believe what happened."

He said the family had made financial arrangements for their daughter's care; they would have paid for part of it, and charities would have covered the rest.

The girl, who cannot be named because of a court-ordered publication ban, was sent back to Vancouver late Tuesday after a group of Toronto physicians pronounced her fit enough to make the journey. Earlier in the day, she had lost her bid to travel to the New York hospital for alternative treatment after the Ontario Superior Court upheld a B.C. court order to return her to her native province.

"She was assessed by medical experts and sent back in an air ambulance with her parents," said Jeremy Berland, assistant deputy minister for B.C.'s Ministry of Children and Family Development, yesterday.

Mr. Berland, along with a delegation of B.C. government officials, had travelled to Toronto earlier in the week to observe the court proceedings. On Tuesday, Judge Victor Paisley ruled that the girl did not have the right to refuse treatment, which may include blood transfusions.

The family had left British Columbia in order to seek a second opinion at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto last week before planning to make its way to Schneider Children's Hospital, where an oncologist had said he would try to administer the chemotherapy without resorting to blood transfusions.

"We're not performing any magic here," Dr. Lacorte said. "It's the philosphy in the medical community here that blood transfusions are not good for all sorts of reasons, because of AIDS and hepatitis."

Although the hospital does provide blood transfusions in emergency situations, physicians are committed to treating patients without them. According to Dr. Lacorte, the girl's family had contacted the hospital last week.

Although doctors in both Toronto and New York had said the girl's health was not in immediate danger, B.C. officials were acting on the testimony of local physicians at the B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver who said the girl, who will be 15 next month, was in immediate danger if she did not begin chemotherapy treatments.

"I can't say we're happy with the situation," Mr. Berland said as he prepared to board a plane for Vancouver yesterday. "It's never a good thing to have to get a court order, but at least now we can start the treatment that will save this girl's life."

B.C. officials and Toronto police escorted the sobbing teenager, who walks with crutches, to an ambulance waiting outside the courtroom on Tuesday. She was taken to the Hospital for Sick Children minutes after Judge Paisley's ruling. Doctors at B.C. Children's Hospital, where she was undergoing chemotherapy, had said the treatment could inhibit the growth of blood cells and that the girl would likely need transfusions. Earlier this year, the girl had a cancerous tumour removed from her right leg.

"The family is upset, to say the least," said Shane Brady, who represented the family at Tuesday's hearing. "They weren't given the opportunity to present their evidence in court. She was never trying to avoid treatment, she was just seeking a second opinion."

For his part, Dr. Lacorte and the head of oncology at the Schneider Children's Hospital, Dr. Jeffrey Lipton, were on call this week to answer any of the Toronto judge's questions about the case by phone. But the court did not allow the family to present any further evidence.