TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – “A couple is preparing to sue the state’s child welfare agency claiming a case worker unnecessarily threatened to take their terminally ill child as he lay in bed dying.
Debbie and Richard Brand of Yulee were caring for their 9-year-old son, Ricky, at home after doctors told them the boy, suffering from bone cancer, had about a month to live.
They lowered his recommended dosage of pain relievers Dilaudid and Valium because it put the boy in a near comatose state and they wanted to be able to interact with him in his final days, according to a complaint filed against the Department of Children & Families.
A nurse who called the home heard the boy crying in the background and asked if the boy was in pain. The parents said, no, he was just frightened. A complaint was later filed with DCF, which sent an investigator to the home in August.
An investigator had been sent to the home two months earlier after receiving a call that the parents were refusing to get treatment for Ricky. The investigator closed the case after interviewing the family, which had taken the boy to the hospital for blood transfusions and other care.
During the second investigation, a case worker concluded that the boy was in excruciating pain and told the Brands he would be removed from the home unless they took him to the hospital. Ricky died in the car on the way to the hospital. The parents believe the trauma sped up the boy’s death. The also maintain that Ricky wasn’t in pain.
The DCF investigator and the boy’s physician, Dr. Phyllis Hendry, claim the parents were refusing to give him pain medication for religious beliefs, according to a police report and a DCF abuse report.
That is not true, said the couple’s lawyer, Larry Klayman.
“They did not deny the boy medication,” Klayman said. Ricky was alert, answered questions when the investigator was in the home and denied being in pain, Klayman said.
The complaint filed against DCF seeks additional records in the case. The department has refused to turn over documents related to their investigation, Klayman said. He is seeking the material to prepare a suit against the agency.
“The Brands deserved to be able to spend the final days of their son’s life with him in peace without having the government barge into their house, give them an ultimatum and effectively kill the boy prematurely – all in violation of their constitutional rights,” said Klayman, who was the founder of the Washington-based conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.
DCF refused to comment on the case.
“Whenever a child dies, it is a tragedy that we feel very deeply. However, it is the Department’s policy not to comment any further on pending litigation,” DCF spokesman John Harrell said in an e-mail.
Hendry was aware of the parents’ concern over medication. They had refused to allow doctors to give the boy morphine. Hendry believed the parents would give him the recommended dosage of Dilaudid and Valium, according to his hospital discharge papers. She also wrote Ricky appeared to be in a loving home environment.
On the refusal to administer morphine, Hendry wrote “Although this is concerning, this is their right as a parent and they are not neglecting his other needs at this time. The health care team felt that it would be better for Ricky to stay with his family and receive somewhat suboptimal pain treatment” rather than “making another DCF referral and possibly have him removed from the home when he has such a limited time to live.”
Hendry didn’t immediately return a call Thursday seeking comment.”
My husband told me he saw a great bumper sticker the other day…it said “Social Services needs a good spanking!”
Jenny Hatch

Another deadly form of birth control for women…
“Citing federal death and injury reports, the AP also found that about a dozen women, most in their late teens and early 20s, died in 2004 from blood clots believed to be related to the birth-control patch, and dozens more survived strokes and other clot-related problems.
Ortho McNeil spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs said Thursday that the warning speaks for itself and that the company has been cooperating with the Food and Drug Administration, which distributed the new warning to health care providers.
More than 4 million women have used the patch since it went on sale in 2002. Several lawsuits have been filed by families of women who died or suffered blood clots while using the patch, and lawyers said more are planned.
Documents released to attorneys as a result of that litigation show Ortho McNeil has been analyzing the FDA’s death and injury reports, creating its own charts that document a higher rate of blood clots and deaths in association with the patch than with the pill.”
Sort of a different image than that Ballerina tip toeing around in the ads that have been on television for the patch…
Jenny Hatch

Interesting new trends in Family Life
“Sometimes Nan Wise’s in-laws pop round on Sunday afternoons. They settle down with Nan, a psychotherapist, her husband John, a lawyer, and their two children to watch American football on TV.
So far, so all-American: a slice of suburban life on the outskirts of New York. But sometimes John’s long-term girlfriend drops by, as does Nan’s boyfriend. The Wises are not divorced. In fact, Nan says her marriage to John is as strong as ever. ‘We are very normal, well-adjusted people,’ she said.
Well, sort of normal. Welcome to the world of the polyamorous, where the family is bigger than you might expect. Polyamorists do not limit themselves to one relationship but maintain numerous relationships, straight or gay. A key element is that they are all serious emotional commitments, not just casual sex.
And polyamorists are coming out of the closet across America. Several groups have sprung up. In New York, Polyamorous NYC holds monthly meetings, has an email list of about 800 and holds a Poly Pride day each year in Central Park.”
I always wonder what Heavenly Father is thinking when I read these sorts of stories….
Give me Monogomy any day.

Jenny Hatch

New web site by the government
Tamiflu cited in two deaths
“TOKYO (Nov. 12) – Two teenage boys who took the antiviral drug Tamiflu exhibited abnormal behavior that lead to their deaths — one jumped in front of an oncoming truck and the other apparently fell from a building, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday.
Following the first incident, which took place last year, the prescription drug in Japan began carrying a warning that says possible side effects include “abnormal behavior” and “hallucinations,” the major Japanese newspaper said.
This is the first time that deaths have been linked to the drug.”
These sort of behaviors are common side effects from the blue dye that is used in Tamiflu production… (Please scroll down to the section on Coloring agents – this piece minimizes the hyperactivity effect of food colors, but many researchers, most notably Dr. Feingold, have made the case that food colors cause mania in children – and adults)
Here are some former blog posts I did on the Avian Flu…
Bird Flu Alternative Remedies, Vaccines and Drugs fall far short, Jenny’s Flu Soup and Giving Birth during a Bird Flu Pandemic

Jenny Hatch

Ten Month Momma Page
I gave birth to my son Andrew at 45 weeks gestation. Rather than an oddity of nature, this is a common fact of life for many women. We just take longer to gestate a baby.
Read through Leilahs ten month momma page. It is a great compilation of information…
Jenny Hatch