The parents of a 14-year-old boy with
bone cancer won a legal challenge against a Mesa hospital that attempted
to override their religious objections to blood transfusions.
The
Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a lower court's
emergency hotline used by hospitals to authorize medical treatment on
behalf of patients is not allowed under state law.
The
parents of a 14-year-old boy with bone cancer challenged Banner Cardon
Children's use of a Maricopa County Superior Court emergency hotline
to authorize blood transfusions on behalf of the child. The parents
and boy are Jehovah's Witnesses and objected to blood transfusions on
religious grounds.
While Banner
Cardon's medical-treatment plan initially consisted of alternative
therapies to fit the parents' religious views, hospital staff later
determined that blood transfusions were medically necessary.
Hospital
staff called the Maricopa County Superior Court hotline multiple times
from October through December last year to seek authorization for the
blood transfusions. The court granted three of five requests, according
to court documents.
The parents filed a petition with the Arizona Court of Appeals seeking to halt the transfusions.
Banner loses legal case that pitted religious beliefs against science
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