Monday, January 9, 2012

Fantastic News for the Stieler Family

I should have sent out this update a couple weeks ago when I found out.

The Probate Court of Marquette County has granted HSLDA's motion to dismiss the prosecution of Ken and Erin Stieler for medical neglect. The Stielers had refused to continue chemotherapy for their son, Jacob, after surgery and the first phase of treatment resulted in clear PET scans. Circuit court judge Thomas Solka ruled today that the family had not neglected their son by refusing to continue with additional rounds of chemotherapy. He recognized that the parents were behaving reasonably by weighing the less-than-certain chance of cure with the risks of very serious side effects. He also placed reliance on HSLDA's argument that three of the five chemotherapy drugs had not been FDA-approved as safe and effective for pediatric sarcoma.

Read the Decision Here:
http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/mi/stielerdecision.pdf

The State of Michigan does have the option of appealing this decision. Please join us in praising God for this important victory for parents and families! Also, continue to pray for Jacob, his parents, and for HSLDA's continued ability defend parental rights.

Blessings to you all,
J. Michael Smith, Esq.
President, HSLDA.

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