Thursday, March 27, 2014

Please Set Me Straight

For the past couple of days I have been pent up with frustration, disgust and anger over the decision that came down on Tuesday in the Justina Pelletier case.  Maybe I am just confused, maybe I am just misinformed or maybe I just don't get it.  So I am asking anyone who reads this and has a differing opinion to set me straight.  Unfortunately for me I have not been able to find anyone to set me straight.  So, I am begging, please set me straight.

For those of you that don't know what I am talking about here is a quick summary from the website www.justiceforjustina.com.  "Justina Pelletier, a 15-year-old from West Hartford, Conn., is in the fight of her life. After being diagnosed and treated for a rare genetic disorder, Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) overruled the diagnosis and said it was “all just in her head.” When Justina’s parents refused to stop her treatment, BCH assumed custody of Justina and locked her up in the psych ward — against her parents’ wishes. Shouldn’t the parents of this young girl have the right to make decisions regarding her welfare?"

For the past 14 months Justina has been sheltered away from her parents only able to see them for an hour a week under the supervision of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the police.  They are not allowed to ask her how she is feeling or how she is doing.  Evidently, Justina is wheel chair bound, legs swollen and her condition that was "in her head" has worsened.

On Tuesday, Judge Joseph Johnston ruled giving permanent custody to DCF in this case.  In reading the ruling I noticed it had nothing to do with what is in the best interest of Justina's treatment but how the Pelletier's hurt the doctors at BCH and DCF officials feeling.  Calling them "Nazi's", swearing at them and threatening to sue.  What has that got do with any of this?  If my children were in this situation the offenses above would be the least of their worries.

These are the facts that I know.  Justina has been diagnosed and treated for mitochondrial disease, which is a very controversial disease and some doctors don't believe it is a valid disease.  This is where the issue starts.  I get if a doctor doesn't believe in a diagnosis, but the actions that are being taken are just far too extreme.   Second, if the Pelletier's are such horrible parents why hasn't the DCF in Connecticut taken any action against them?  Because they refuse to.  They feel there is no basis to get involved.  Lastly, why is DCF fighting so hard on this?  Is it because they have had several misses lately?  Are they trying to flex their muscle? It just doesn't make sense.

I have contacted the Governor’s office, my state rep and Senator Warren to help end this.  I did not contact Senator Markey because I just think he's useless (low blow, sorry).  Needless to say, nobody has contacted me back.  So, I am asking someone on the other side of this argument to set me straight.  Please, don't tell me to get all the facts, I am asking you to present them to me.  I will respect anyone's position on this.  But I need to be set straight.

3D
If you don't take it from me, ask my wife

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