VEF Blog

US cancer teen 'to get treatment'

The parents of a US teenager who ran away with his mother after refusing treatment for cancer have said he can now be given chemotherapy.

Daniel Hauser, 13, has Hodgkin's lymphoma and had been warned that he would die without medical attention.

But his mother, Colleen, had said her religious beliefs meant she wished to treat his cancer with natural methods.

A judge had ordered Daniel to be placed in foster care but repealed the order on condition that he receive treatment.

Mrs Hauser told a court hearing in Brown County that she now believed chemotherapy was the best option for her son, reported the Associated Press news agency.

Judge John Rodenberg said Daniel should remain with his parents but that "this course of chemotherapy has to commence and commence soon".

"Danny loves his parents and they love him. He's a fine boy, a very pleasant young man," he said.

"I know he should be in the custody of his parents - as long as I'm satisfied they are going to follow the prescribed course of treatment."

But county prosecutors objected to the withdrawal of the earlier custody order, saying they were concerned the family could pull out of treatment again.

"These folks have had a history of changing their minds," said Brown County prosecutor James Olson.

Nationwide search

Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy in February, but stopped after that single treatment, citing religious beliefs.

He and his mother failed to attend a court hearing last Tuesday after a court-ordered X-ray showed Daniel had a tumour in his chest.

After a week-long nationwide search, the pair surfaced in California and returned to Minnesota on a charter flight.

"They wanted to get together with their family, they wanted to be home," said Brown County Sherriff Rich Hoffmann.

He said Daniel was "immediately" given a full medical check.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Keller said she understood Mrs Hauser now intended to "abide by whatever orders the court makes".

But she told America's ABC News that Mrs Hauser "also wanted to put her best case forward for her son to have a chance at alternative treatment". </p