That's neglect!
"Ray Hindrichs wandered the hospital halls in anguish while his wife faced countless appointments, procedures and checkups for breast cancer.
While Hindrichs waited, he found the children’s cancer ward.
He played with the children and learned from their parents and social workers what they needed and desired most.
“I found out parents were stretched to no end, and they weren’t poor to start off, but they’d lost everything to care for their kids,” says Hindrichs, 67.
Sometimes a child’s parents couldn’t afford a procedure that might save the child’s life, or at least extend it.Other times they couldn’t buy each other Christmas presents because they were so cash-strapped from the staggering cost of treatment."
http://www.news-press.com/article/20090504/NEWS0108/90504035/1075"A 20 month old West Haven boy has a rare blood disorder and needs a bone marrow transplant.
Michael Clark is not your typical toddler who loves to play. Since shortly after birth, his young life has not been easy.
They were symptoms of a rare blood disorder, that baffled doctors at the start. Anthony says doctors were stunned, and told him and Michael's mother, Melissa Anderson, they didn't know and were not sure what Michael had.
Now, Michael's doctors at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital have narrowed it down to a form of aplastic anemia.
If you'd like to help Michael,
an account has been set up for donations at New Alliance Bank under Michael Clark's Benefit Fund.
There are also a number of bone marrow donor drives in Connecticut scheduled in March to help patients like Michael. For more information on future bone marrow drives, contact the National Marrow Donor Program at 860-334-6983."
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/health_wtnh_toddler_needs_marrow_transplant_200903051535But wait hold on, the government does intervene... when parents CAN pay for treatment but don't want to pay for treatment.
"A Minnesota judge has ruled that a 13-year-old cancer patient whose parents want to treat him with "alternative medicine" must seek conventional medical treatment for their son.
In a 58-page ruling Friday, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg found that Daniel Hauser has been "medically neglected" and is in need of child protection services.
Rodenberg said Daniel will stay in the custody of his parents, but Colleen and Anthony Hauser have until May 19 to get an updated chest X-ray for their son and select an oncologist."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090515/ap_on_he_me/us_med_forced_chemoSo, maybe poor people should just say they want to give their kids alternative treatment instead of losing every dollar they have on chemotherapy and the government will step in and say the kids can not be refused medical treatment?