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Justina Pelletier

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  • Justina Pelletier

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...C6O/story.html

    I've seen this story come up in the news. I'm puzzled not about the amazingly obtuse justice system but about the apparent reluctance of the hospital to cooperate in treating this child for a supposedly rare treatment. I've seen some suggestions that Obama care is to blame but this all started over a year ago so I don't see how that's relevant.

    Anybody have any insight? Is this really a big cover up by the hospital because they failed to treat the the child properly in the beginning? Or is the disease non existent as some seem to imply?
    Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

  • #2
    In short, the doctors at the Boston hospital decided that this was not a mitochondrial disease, but a case of "medical child abuse." Seems to have far more to do with the egos of the doctors involved than anything else.

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    • #3
      True. .. I hadn't thought it might be an ego problem. I suppose somebody's nerve could have been touched when told to call the physician who had been i. Charge of the girl's treatment. I have to admit that this disease of the mitochondria stuff has me scratching my head. This is the power plant of the body, right? I would have thought that any problem affecting this primary source of energy would've been easy to see but apparently the symptoms are non specific and... what, normal genetic tests wouldn't show anything?

      *thinks a trip to a medical library might be in order>
      Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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      • #4
        Originally posted by DesertBerean View Post
        normal genetic tests wouldn't show anything?
        Not to the best of my understanding, because the mitochondria have their own DNA.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by DesertBerean View Post
          http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...C6O/story.html

          I've seen this story come up in the news. I'm puzzled not about the amazingly obtuse justice system but about the apparent reluctance of the hospital to cooperate in treating this child for a supposedly rare treatment. I've seen some suggestions that Obama care is to blame but this all started over a year ago so I don't see how that's relevant.

          Anybody have any insight? Is this really a big cover up by the hospital because they failed to treat the the child properly in the beginning? Or is the disease non existent as some seem to imply?
          Justina was previouly admitted to several hospitals and treated for what was believed to be a rare disease with no success and then was admitted to Childrens hospital in Boston where it was determined that she had been misdiagnosed and was re-diagnosed with what is called somatoform disorder, which is psycho-somatic rather than medical in nature and is said to be somehow brought on by attention seeking parents. Childrens Hospital is trying to protect the child from all of the unnecessary medical treatment and surgery's she's been, in their view, unecessarily undergoing. Knowing what i do of the family, i agree with the hospital, but can't say more.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by JimL View Post
            Justina was previouly admitted to several hospitals and treated for what was believed to be a rare disease with no success and then was admitted to Childrens hospital in Boston where it was determined that she had been misdiagnosed and was re-diagnosed with what is called somatoform disorder, which is psycho-somatic rather than medical in nature and is said to be somehow brought on by attention seeking parents. Childrens Hospital is trying to protect the child from all of the unnecessary medical treatment and surgery's she's been, in their view, unecessarily undergoing. Knowing what i do of the family, i agree with the hospital, but can't say more.
            Do you know (from public information, stuff that can be spoken of without violating privacy) if there have been tests to identify or rule out a mitochondrial disease?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Outis View Post
              Do you know (from public information, stuff that can be spoken of without violating privacy) if there have been tests to identify or rule out a mitochondrial disease?
              I can't say for certain, though Childrens Hospital in Boston is one of the most respected hospitals in the country. Mitochondrial disease is very difficult to diagnose and sometimes requires many different tests, but I would be willing to bet that Childrens did a very thorough examination the result of which the parents were obviously not happy with, of course. I've seen the relationship between the parents and the child though and there is definitely something wierd psychologically going on there. Justina is 16 years old and acts her age until she meets with her parents wherin she immediately reverts to acting like a 5 year old. And from what i've seen the parents are definitely attention seekers.

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              • #8
                Hmmmm....JimL, how did you come to observe those interactions?
                Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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                • #9
                  Here's something I found from the Boston Globe. I don't know if this paper is highly regarded but it's interesting reading...Part One at least. Haven't read part two yet...

                  http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/201...xZI/story.html
                  Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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                  • #10
                    Some myths and facts about mito diseases:

                    http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disord..._diseases.aspx
                    Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

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                    • #11
                      There is one reality. If a team of Physicians at a teaching hospital decides something, they will go to great lengths to prove it. I have seen this myself. Unfortunately, and this is a reality, when it comes to children, if a parent goes AMA, regardless of what another physician says, and they will utilize their "authority" to attempt to override the parents, including court.
                      A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
                      George Bernard Shaw

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                      • #12
                        http://foxct.com/2014/02/28/mass-off...rred-to-tufts/

                        So she'll be transferred back to Tufts...and eventually go home. I think somebody is washing hands of this.
                        Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by DesertBerean View Post
                          http://foxct.com/2014/02/28/mass-off...rred-to-tufts/

                          So she'll be transferred back to Tufts...and eventually go home. I think somebody is washing hands of this.
                          I don't think so. Whether she will be treated at Tufts or not i can't say, but what DCF is saying is that they would like to get her into a facility, away from her parents, but closer to them in Conneticutt where she lives. That being the case, it doesn't really make sense that she would be treated at Tufts for mitochondrial disease. If they believed it was mitochondrial disease and not child medical abuse then she would be going home to her parents, not to a facility. I think that they are just trying to work out a solution that would perhaps make things easier for the whole family, but they are not changing the psychiatric diagnoses or relinquishing custody back to the parents.

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                          • #14
                            UPDATE: http://www.personhoodusa.com/press-r...ily-wednesday/

                            Justina is going home.
                            Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Good! She should have never been taken from her parents in the 1st place.
                              A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
                              George Bernard Shaw

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