Connecticut Supreme Court Forces Teen to Continue Chemo Against Her Own and Mother’s Will

With the federal government taking more control over healthcare, many are worried about “death panels” and care being withheld from patients who need it. A case in Connecticut gives an example of the opposite: care being forced on someone who doesn’t want it.

Cassandra is 17 years old and has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She started chemotherapy, but had such a bad experience she decided to stop. Her mom supported her decision because of all the negative side effects of chemo. They wanted to pursue alternate treatments.

But the state stepped in and decided that Cassandra and her mom had no right to make that decision. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that she must continue treatment, whether she wants to or not.

Cassandra says she was forcibly removed from her home and has been confined in the CT Children’s Hospital against her will for a month. A guard is posted at her door. The LA Times reports:

A week into her stay, she said, she was strapped to a bed by her wrists and ankles and sedated. When she awoke, she found a port surgically placed in her chest.

“She hasn’t been convicted of a crime, but it’s kind of like she’s in jail,” said Joshua Michtom, an assistant public defender and Cassandra’s lawyer. “It’s an especially lousy way to go through chemo.”

In many states, a minor who is deemed sufficiently mature has the right to make their own medical decisions. Connecticut did not recognize the “mature minor doctrine” in this case, although 17-year-olds in the state are permitted to access contraception, have an abortion, seek psychiatric care, or donate blood without parental consent.

Cassandra will turn 18 in September, at which point she can stop treatment as an adult or appeal the court’s decision. But by then, she’ll have paid with almost a year of imprisonment in a hospital room.