Tuesday, December 25, 2012

First Christmas with his girls for father wrongly jailed for child cruelty

Family broken up in 2007 when Ben Butler was accused of abusing child Ellie
Mr Butler was forced to share jail cell with a convicted child abuser
Parents say reuniting with kids is like 'suddenly having grown up twins'
The girls and their parents are enjoying their first Christmas as 'a proper family'

PUBLISHED: 18:11 EST, 23 December 2012 | UPDATED: 19:05 EST, 23 December 2012

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2252644/First-Christmas-girls-father-wrongly-jailed-child-cruelty.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

With their two smiling daughters cuddled up on his knee and his loving partner by his side, Ben Butler looks every inch the contented father.

But such scenes of simple domestic bliss are a new experience for all of them - after the family was ripped apart when he was wrongly jailed for child cruelty.

It took three years to clear his name and two more for he and the girls' mother Jennie Gray to win back Ellie and Isabella after a series of legal battles.

Enlarge

Ben Butler and his two daughters Ellie, 5, and Isabella, 3, get ready for their first Christmas together

Together again: Jennie Gray, Ben Butler's partner, joins the family for a long awaited season celebration

The four had never all lived together - and the two beautiful little girls had not even met each other until a few weeks ago after each being put into separate foster care as babies.

Now the sisters are joined at the hip, excitedly rushing up to 'daddy' and 'mummy' to ask if they can have another chocolate from their advent calendars or to show them their festive drawings of angels, stars and candles.

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As the happily reunited family look forward to their first Christmas together - just one of the many milestones they were previously denied by their unjust ordeal - Mr Butler and Miss Gray, both 33, say it is 'like suddenly having grown-up twins'.

And the doting parents are delighted Ellie, five, and three-year-old Isabella are settling in so well after their return to the family home.

Mr Butler said: 'I worked out I've spent more than six months of my life in criminal and family courts over this. All we ever wanted was to be a family, but it was all so draining, there were times I thought it would never happen.

'But we knew we had to keep fighting, fighting and at last here we are back together - just like it should have been all along. We are trying to catch up on the lost years but are Ellie and Izzy are a joy.'

The ordeal began in February 2007 when Mr Butler, a removals man, saved then seven-weeks-old Ellie's life when she stopped breathing while he was looking after her - only to be accused of harming her.

He cleared her airway after she collapsed and rushed her to hospital. But doctors found head injuries similar to those caused when a baby is deliberately hurt by being shaken.

Mr Butler, of Sutton, South West London, insisted he had not harmed Ellie. Miss Gray, who was not living with him then, supported him.

But the couple were arrested and he was charged with grievous bodily harm and cruelty. Ellie, despite going on to make a full recovery, was taken in to foster care.

Mr Butler says having is girls back is like getting two 'grown up twins'

Despite advice from others, Miss Gray remained true to the father of her children and now her concitions have paid off in getting her family back

While awaiting trial the Family Court ruled Mr Butler could see Ellie twice a year for four hours.

Miss Gray, a graphic designer, was allowed contact with her baby six times a year for two hours at a time.

Miss Gray said: 'I was told at one point that if I went against Ben it would be to my advantage and I'd have more chance of getting my daughter back. It's outrageous.'

At his Croydon Crown Court trial in March 2009 Mr Butler was convicted. Given an 18-month sentence, he was forced to share a prison cell with a convicted child abuser.

He said: 'I was put with sex offenders. I never spoke to the guy I shared a cell with - it's like being put in a mental hospital when you're not mental. It was just a horrible, dirty feeling where everyone is on a different wavelength.' After three and a half months behind bars,

Mr Butler was released pending appeal.

Brought together by the nightmare engulfing their lives, he and Miss Gray started seeing each other again.

She became pregnant with Isabella and, by now 'terrified' of the social workers, tried to keep her birth secret. But Isabella too was also taken into foster care aged six months - and social workers wanted her to be adopted.

Mr Butler's conviction was quashed in 2010 after fresh medical evidence showed Ellie's injuries were caused by a traumatic birth and it was also highlighted how if they had been caused by shaking her full recovery 'would not have been expected'.

It further turned out that Ellie had a cyst in her throat which Mr Butler had pushed out of the way when he cleared her airway after she collapsed. The cyst is clearly visible on a scan taken in hospital, but it was not shown to the original jury.

It then took another two years of battling in the Family Court for the parents to persuade judges and social workers that Ellie, who had been allowed to live with her grandparents, Miss Gray's parents, and Isabella, should be returned to them.

Finally, in October this year, High Court judge Mrs Justice Hogg praised the couple as she ruled the two girls should be allowed to go home.

She said: 'The last five and a half years must have been an extraordinarily difficult time for the parents ... [They] have weathered the storm. They have each been resilient and determined, and shown tenacity and courage... I wish the parents well: they too deserve joy and happiness.'

The couple had at last achieved their dream, but were understandably anxious how their daughters would cope. Isabella came home first, then Ellie a short while later on November 11, to their new matching pink bedrooms.

Ellie is so attached to her grandparents and had been away so long they were worried if she would settle - or be jealous of the little sister she had never met.

Miss Gray said: 'We started building them up about each other and put a picture of each other next to their beds. Their first meeting came when we took them bowling, one of Ellie's favourite things.

'We thought it would be difficult and they wouldn't be able to connect quickly. But they gave each other a kiss and they were very good with each other.

'The bond has grown between them. They play so well together and do everything together. It's so cute. Ellie helps put Izzy's shoes on and tries to do her hair for her.

'We're learning so much so fast about them, things like what their favourite colours and toys are - Ellie loves Minnie Mouse and Izzy Tinker Bell - that it's like suddenly having grown up twins.'

Mr Butler said: 'I hadn't seen Izzy for two and a half years but she was calling me 'daddy' from the first time we met again. Now you wouldn't know she'd been away. Her foster carers are lovely people and we thank them for all they did.

'But what happened to us was all so wrong. My trial came down to medical opinion only and the medical evidence just didn't add up.

'We've not had a normal life for nearly six years and the pressure has been immense. We've missed out on so many things, like seeing our daughters' first steps and some birthdays.

'Now we're just looking forward to seeing them grow up with us, taking them places and enjoying normal, everyday things. That's all we ever wanted - to be a proper family.'

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Dismissed Case Raises Questions On Shaken Baby Diagnosis

by JOSEPH SHAPIRO
December 21, 2012 3:16 PM

When San Francisco prosecutors dismissed charges against Kristian Aspelin in early December, it became just the latest case to raise questions about how shaken baby syndrome is diagnosed. Aspelin, who was accused of causing the death of his infant son, had one thing in his favor: He had enough money to pay for medical experts who cast doubt on the prosecution's theory.

Aspelin's nightmare began on a November afternoon two years ago. He had just brought his two sons home from day care. His 2-year-old son opened the refrigerator and dropped strawberries and pizza on the floor. Aspelin says he went to clean it up while holding his 3-month-old son, Johan.

"So I ran into the kitchen to address what was going on, and I brought Johan along with me in my right hand and eventually after cleaning up, slipped and fell," says Aspelin, who spoke publicly for the first time in an interview with NPR. "And I will never forgive myself for bringing Johan into the kitchen, but it was an accident."

Johan had fallen onto the tile floor.

Aspelin called 911 and an ambulance took the infant to the hospital. Five days after the fall, Johan died.

The San Francisco medical examiner did an autopsy and found injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Aspelin was charged with felony assault of his son.

Earlier this month, prosecutors quietly dropped the charges after Aspelin's attorney presented reports from six medical experts and a biomechanical engineer. Those defense experts explained how the child's death was consistent with the fall Aspelin described and argued there was a lack of evidence to suggest the child was deliberately injured.

Aspelin's defense even hired a video company that made a model of the family's kitchen — the family had since moved — and filmed Aspelin, holding a doll, slipping on the floor.

"Before we did the reenactment," Aspelin says, "I didn't know if I would be able to, how I would react to go into that environment and try to relive those moments that have, you know, basically haunted me for, for a long time."

One issue was whether a child could die from a fall of just about three feet. The video showed how the child's head could have hit the hard tile.

Among the experts Aspelin hired were those who have testified on both sides of child abuse cases. Some explained how scientific knowledge about child deaths is changing, and how they have come to understand there are many alternative possibilities to what's often thought to be deliberate and violent shaking.

Patrick Barnes, a pediatric neuroradiologist and one of the experts hired by Aspelin's defense, explained how doctors now recognize "a variety of accidental and natural causes" that are sometimes overlooked in cases that are first diagnosed as shaken baby syndrome.

Enlarge image

Jennie and Kristian Aspelin pose in a pumpkin patch with their children two weeks before three-month-old Johan died.Courtesy of the Aspelin family

Barnes had testified for the prosecution in one of the most famous shaken baby syndrome cases — at the 1997 trial of English au pair Louise Woodward in Massachusetts. Since then he has come to believe that the syndrome is overdiagnosed and misdiagnosed.

Aspelin's attorney, Stuart Hanlon, agrees. "Innocent people get convicted, especially in these kind of cases," he says. "And we have to have a better way to protect people from false allegations of shaken baby."

To pay for his defense, Aspelin went through his savings, sold his house and borrowed from family and friends to raise more than $1 million. It cost about $100,000 just for the expert medical witnesses — a price that makes them unavailable to many defendants.

Last year, NPR News Investigations — with PBS' Frontline and ProPublica — found 23 cases of child deaths where charges were later reversed or dropped. Since then, a Texas man who was the focus of one story was released from prison. And in California, a woman who was the focus of another, had her sentence commuted.

A spokeswoman for San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon confirmed that the charges against Aspelin were dropped. Prosecutors — in an unusual arrangement — worked collaboratively with Aspelin's medical experts. In the end, the district attorney concluded there was not enough evidence, as the spokeswoman put it, "to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt."

Still, Aspelin's troubles are far from over. Since the indictment, he's been required to live apart from his wife and their surviving son, who is now 4.

"He really kept us strong because we had something to really fight for," Aspelin says of his older son. "And I couldn't bear even thinking of losing our other son after Johan went away."

Aspelin can see his son every day — on supervised visits — but can't stay overnight in the house. It will take another legal proceeding to be reunited.

Confess or you'll never see your kids

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/confess-or-you-ll-never-see-your-kids-184400401.html?ref=401

Posted: Dec. 21, 2012 | 2:06 a.m.

It sounds like something out of the Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials or modern-day North Korea: Authorities separate a husband and father from his family, warning that he can live with them only if he confesses to a crime he didn't commit.

This kind of twisted justice was repudiated by our Founding Fathers, and as a result, the United States legal system is the gold standard of the free world.

Yet this unconscionable scenario played out right here in Clark County over the past few years. And very soon, Southern Nevadans likely will pay dearly for it.

A Nigerian immigrant announced Tuesday that he has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Clark County for keeping him separated from his family for five months after a jury acquitted him of murder and abuse charges in the 2008 death of a 2-year-old boy. Victor Fakoya was not allowed to live with his wife and two daughters unless he admitted responsibility in Family Court to the charges he was found not guilty of in District Court.

"What has been lost in time and the joy of parenting my children is something I will never again regain," he said.

The lawsuit, which seeks $10 million in damages, alleges Child Protective Services employees tried to use the forced separation from his family to coerce Mr. Fakoya into admitting he caused Daniel Jaiwesimi's death.

"It seems morally incongruous for prosecutors to demand of Mr. Fakoya that, in order to settle his Family Court case, he confess to something for which he was acquitted," we wrote in this space in April 2011 - more than a year and a half ago. "It smacks of vindictiveness. There is no rational basis for the demand. The safety of Mr. Fakoya's children can be monitored without demanding a confession that would hang over his life forever, even if he is completely innocent."

Mr. Fakoya, a principled and observant Christian, has steadfastly refused to comply with the prosecutors' demands, even though doing so meant he had to live separately from his wife and two daughters.

A Department of Family Services caseworker recommended dismissal. "In light of the outcome of Mr. Fakoya's criminal trial ... it is respectfully requested and recommended that this matter be dismissed and the case closed," the caseworker wrote in a letter to the court, almost two years ago. But District Attorney David Roger's office pressed on, demanding the confession. (Mr. Roger has since left office.)

Although Mr. Fakoya has filed only against the county, individuals within Child Protective Services and the district attorney's office probably will be named later, says Mr. Fakoya's civil attorney, Brent Bryson.

"The mandate of Child Protective Services is, one, to protect children, and two, to reunify families together. We believe that mission was abandoned in Mr. Fakoya's case," Mr. Bryson said Tuesday.

Indeed. The two missions can sometimes appear to be in conflict. But children fare best within their own families - with both parents, when possible.

The conduct of the agencies in this case went beyond mere caution. They seemed unwilling to accept the verdict of a jury of Mr. Fakoya's peers, determined to use their power over the custody of the children to force a different outcome.

Now, in all likelihood, taxpayers will pay for that intransigence. And what measure of accountability might they get in the face of a multimillion-dollar judgment or settlement? Will anyone within Clark County government face suspension or termination? Will anyone step forward to renounce such Draconian tactics and vow that it will never happen again?

Meantime, as Mr. Fakoya notes, how can he ever be given back those months with his growing children?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Utah Kid Who Brought Gun to Class Claims Parents Armed Him for Protection Following Sandy Hook Shooting

SANDY HOOK SHOOTING

Neetzan Zimmerman

A student at an elementary school in Kearns, Utah, who brought a handgun in to class reportedly told his classmates the weapon was given to him by his parents for protection in the wake of last week's shooting at Sandy Hook.

The .22-caliber pistol was unloaded when the 6th grader pulled it out of his backpack during recess yesterday and aimed it at another student. "He pointed a gun to my head and said he was going to kill me," Isabel Rios told a local Fox affiliate.

The 11-year-old was quickly disarmed by a teacher and rushed to the principal's office. The police were called but no lockdown was ordered as the incident was over in 30 to 45 seconds, according to school administrators at West Kearns Elementary School.

Still, some parents felt the school should have done more to guarantee the safety of their children. "There was no lockdown. No one was called. Nothing was done. And then we had to hear it from our kids," parent John Klaus said.

Some students were kept home from school today by their parents as a precaution.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, and police are looking into the veracity of the child's statement concerning his parents' involvement. Meanwhile, he has been placed in the custody of a juvenile hall and could face criminal charges as well as expulsion.

http://gawker.com/5969486/utah-kid-who-brought-gun-to-class-claims-parents-armed-him-for-protection-following-sandy-hook-shooting

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

40,000 Page views.

Thank you to everyone who has supported our family, and who has supported our blog. We've just hit 40,000 views. We've gone through quite a lot in our case, as I'm sure many others have. Most recently we've faced a very creepy Assistant Attorney General who was very adamant that we not take our son to a doctor while he is home celebrating the holidays with us. Of course we plan on spending the holidays with our son. It had never even crossed our mind to spend our holiday with him visiting doctors. So it really creeped us out that she so adamantly made sure that no medical testing was done on our son. Anyone who sat in on the hearing had the same vibe, so I know that it wasn't just my family sensing it. What is the state hiding from us? I'm sure it will come out eventually, just like their other lies and cover ups. I look forward to the time when we are able to overwhelmingly show our proof that our son had a medical condition weakening his bone matrix, and I look forward to showing the lies that DHS has put out there.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Tragic brutal mass murder in Connecticut...

Friday, December 14th was a sad day for our nation and our planet. 20 beautiful young children had their lives stolen from them at their elementary school, and 6 school staff also had their lives taken. This type of brutal attack leaves us all in a state of sadness and pain. It is impossible for us to understand why a person would do this. I know that I could never understand a motive to kill so many others, so many children with their whole lives ahead of them. I am a father, I love my children. I know that I can't let things like this change the way I parent, but these things stick in your mind whenever you make decisions for you kids. I don't cry often, but have been hard pressed to hold back tears when I think about what happened to the children and families in Connecticut.

Many people have reacted in their own ways. Some say we need more gun control, others say we need to teach our teachers to use weapons so they can protect children in times of danger. A lot of people have been sharing a picture with two signs, one that prohibits weapons vs. one that states that the staff are heavily armed. While I understand that this may seem good at a first glance, putting guns in school is not the answer, and as I see it would only lead to more trouble. We're not talking about a person's set of weapons, but rather the will for that person to commit an evil act. People have committed mass murders with bombs, axes, bows and arrows, they've pulled fire alarms, they've used poison. What the murderer used isn't the main issue (At least that is my opinion) but rather it is the killers evil will to commit the tragic crimes.

My thoughts are with the families, and I can't even begin to imagine how hard it is going to be for those who survived and won't understand why they were different from their friends and family. I know that survivors guilt is a terrible thing. I hope that all those who need help get it. Please don't forget about these families once the media leave the scene. It is the holiday season, one that is meant to be happy. These families wont have that. Keep them in your hearts.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Juvenile Law Resource Center

Lessons from the Oregon Supreme Court’s Decision in J.R.F.

By Shannon Storey, Senior Deputy, Juvenile Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services

Does ORS 419B.100(1)(c) authorize the juvenile court to assert jurisdiction over a child based on its assessment that jurisdiction and wardship would be in the child’s best interests?
Dept of Human Services v. J.R.F., 351 Or 570, 273 P3d 87 (2012) suggests not. In that case, the Oregon Supreme Court clarified that, as a matter of state law (ORS 419B.090)(4)), all provisions of the juvenile dependency code must be construed and applied consistent with a parent’s Fourteenth Amendment right to direct the upbringing of his or her children, which includes the presumption that a fit parent acts in his or her child’s best interest. Thus, the due process rights of the parent circumscribe the construction and application of every provision of Chapter 419B. That is, the parent’s liberty interest in the care and companionship of his or her child, and the procedural protection attended therein, must be read into every provision of Chapter 419B.

Monday, December 3, 2012

[New post] Despite Evidence From Discredited Medical Examiner Mississippi’s Jeffrey Havard Nears Execution

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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Medical marijuana for a child with leukemia

http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/11/medical_marijuana_for_a_child.html#incart_m-rpt-2 Published: Saturday, November 24, 2012, 9:00 AM Updated: Saturday, November 24, 2012, 10:00 PM By Noelle Crombie, The Oregonian

Mykayla Comstock's family says marijuana helps her fight an especially aggressive form of leukemia, keeps infection at bay and lifts her weary spirit. Twice a day she swallows a potent capsule form of the drug. Some days, when she can't sleep or eat, she snacks on a gingersnap or brownie baked with marijuana-laced butter. Mykayla is one of 2,201 cancer patients authorized by the state of Oregon to use medical marijuana. She is 7. The Oregon Medical Marijuana Program serves 52 children who have a qualifying medical condition, parental consent and a doctor's approval. Like adults, most cite pain as a qualifying condition, though many list multiple health problems, including seizures, nausea and cancer. Allowing adults to consume medical marijuana is gaining acceptance nationwide. But Mykayla's story underscores the complex issues that arise when states empower parents to administer the controversial drug to children. Oregon's law, approved by voters 14 years ago, requires no monitoring of a child's medical marijuana use by a pediatrician. The law instead invests authority in parents to decide the dosage, frequency and manner of a child's marijuana consumption. The state imposes no standards for quality, safety or potency in the production of marijuana. Little is known about how the drug interacts with the developing body, leading pediatricians say. A recent international study found sustained cannabis use among teens can cause long-term damage to intellect, memory and attention. Many doctors worry about introducing a child to marijuana when they say other drugs can treat pain and nausea more effectively. Mykayla's father, who is divorced from the girl's mother, was so disturbed by his daughter's marijuana use that he contacted child welfare officials, police and her oncologist. Jesse Comstock said his concerns were prompted by a visit with Mykayla in August. "She was stoned out of her mind," said Comstock, 26. "All she wanted to do was lay on the bed and play video games." But Mykayla's mother and her boyfriend, Erin Purchase and Brandon Krenzler, see the drug as a harmless antidote to leukemia's host of horrors. The couple, regular cannabis users raised in Pendleton, said Mykayla relies almost exclusively on pot to treat pain, nausea, vomiting, depression and sleep problems associated with her cancer treatment. Mykayla, who favors a knit cupcake cap to cover her fuzz of strawberry-colored hair, said marijuana makes her feel better. By the numbers Most jurisdictions that have medical marijuana programs -- 18 states and Washington, D.C. -- permit children to participate with parental consent and a doctor's approval. View the numbers for Oregon here. "It helps me eat and sleep," she said, nestled against her mother on a couch. "The chemotherapy makes you feel like you want to stay up all night long." Marijuana, she said, "makes me feel funny, happy." "She's like she was before," her mother said. "She's a normal kid." Diagnosis: leukemia Mykayla, a sweet girl with a splash of red freckles across her nose and cheeks, started showing cancer symptoms last spring. She was feverish. She had a hacking cough and night sweats. A rash spread on her leg. Purchase, 25, worried that her daughter had Lyme disease or pneumonia. A Pendleton doctor suspected strep throat and put her on antibiotics. But Mykayla's health worsened. Purchase took her to a Hermiston pediatrician, who found a mass in the girl's chest. Purchase and Krenzler, 27, drove Mykayla to Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel that afternoon. The following day she was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. "My whole life is her," said Purchase, who became pregnant with Mykayla when she was a 17-year-old high school senior. "I was so scared of losing her. It was heartbreaking." Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, striking an estimated 3,800 American children each year. Mykayla has T-cell leukemia, an aggressive form of the disease that affects 10 to 15 percent of patients. Immediately, Purchase, who is divorced from Mykayla's father and has sole custody, faced decisions about her daughter's treatment. With chemotherapy, doctors put Mykayla's odds of survival at 76.9 percent and her chance of relapse at 7 percent, Purchase said. Purchase accepted the chemo as part of her daughter's treatment, although she takes a generally dim view of the pharmaceutical industry, is skeptical of childhood vaccines, rejects genetically modified foods and avoids products made with high-fructose corn syrup. What Purchase believes, emphatically, is that cannabis heals. Purchase said her stepfather's topical application of cannabis oil cured his skin cancer. She said an acquaintance's lung cancer went into remission after he used pot. And Purchase herself consumes marijuana daily. She said she became an Oregon medical marijuana patient in 2010 to treat vomiting from a metabolic problem and from her pregnancy with her second child. She is so convinced of the drug's safety that she consumed it during the pregnancy and while breastfeeding. She was certain of one thing when Mykayla was diagnosed: The child would use marijuana to defeat cancer. Purchase and Krenzler took Mykayla to The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation clinic in Southeast Portland, where a doctor looked over a letter from Mykayla's oncologist stating her diagnosis. The doctor asked about Mykayla's medications, her symptoms and how Purchase planned to give her daughter the drug. Purchase said the physician "was pretty thorough." If he had any concerns about Mykayla's age, Purchase said, he didn't mention them. Ten days after her cancer diagnosis, Mykayla was an Oregon medical marijuana patient. Undergoing treatment On a recent afternoon, Krenzler placed a baggie of empty pill capsules on the kitchen counter and unwrapped a 10-gram syringe of cannabis oil, known among marijuana patients as Rick Simpson Oil. Krenzler filled a capsule with a half-gram of the dark sludgy substance that friends had prepared and handed it to Mykayla. The oil smells bad and, says Mykayla, tastes awful. Krenzler got lime-flavored capsules to help mask the drug's pungent aftertaste. Test results showed the substance had a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of 58.6 percent, a much higher concentration than in dried marijuana. THC is the psychoactive property of marijuana that gives users a high. Mykayla swallowed the pill. "First you get hungry," she said. "Then you get really funny, and then you get tired." Medical marijuana for Oregon child with cancer Mykayla Comstock is one of the youngest medical marijuana patients in Oregon. She has cancer. Watch video These days, Mykayla lives with her family in a 35-foot RV parked at a friend's home in Gladstone while she undergoes chemotherapy. Returning to Pendleton is on hold. Mykayla went into remission within a month of starting chemotherapy. Cancer specialists say such a development is expected, but Purchase and Krenzler credited marijuana. "She wasn't responding as well until she got the cannabis," Purchase said. Mykayla continues to receive a half-gram of cannabis oil twice a day: once in the morning, and again in the afternoon. Krenzler said marijuana can relax or energize Mykayla, relieve her pain, stimulate her appetite, ease her nausea or put her to sleep When she first started using marijuana, it knocked Mykayla out. She'd nap for hours at a time, a sign that Mykayla's body was adjusting to marijuana, said Krenzler "Once you get used to it and you gain a tolerance, it doesn't make you high," said Krenzler, who is listed with the state as Mykayla's grower. "You're functional." Sometimes, if Mykayla is feeling especially lousy, Krenzler and Purchase offer her a cookie or slice of banana bread baked with "budder," made by slow-cooking butter and marijuana buds. Krenzler said she's had up to 1.2 grams of cannabis oil in 24 hours, the rough equivalent of smoking 10 joints. Purchase has an associate's degree in medical office assistance but is out of work. Krenzler, 27, is also unemployed. The family lives on Mykayla's Supplemental Security Income and food stamps. The couple home-schools Mykayla for now. She loves sculpting clay and reading "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." Her favorite book is "It's Just a Plant," a children's book about marijuana illustrated by the artist whose work includes the blockbuster parody, "Go the **** to Sleep." Mykayla often reads the marijuana book aloud to her 17-month-old sister, Ryleigh. "It's really fun," Mykayla said. "It teaches you about cannabis, that it's good for you and other people use it too." The doctor's opinion The faith Purchase and Krenzler place in marijuana's curative powers is not shared by the American medical establishment. Purchase and Krenzler said Dr. Janice Olson, the medical director of the children's cancer and blood disorders program at Legacy Emanuel's Randall Children's Hospital, called the girl's marijuana use "inappropriate." Now they're seeing another Legacy pediatric oncologist, Dr. Jason Glover. Both doctors declined The Oregonian's request for interviews. Leaders of the American Academy of Pediatrics are circulating a resolution opposing the drug's use in children, prompted by the growing number of states with medical marijuana programs. "The issue," said Dr. Sharon Levy, an author of the academy's anti-pot resolution, "is that marijuana isn't a medicine." Much is unknown about marijuana's risks and potential benefits for kids, said Levy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and director of the adolescent substance abuse program at Boston Children's Hospital. Studies showing marijuana can be effective against nausea and vomiting have focused on adults. Pot does not cure childhood leukemia, said Dr. Stephen Sallan, chief of staff emeritus at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Sallan, a pediatric oncologist and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said he views the drug as "relatively harmless." He did groundbreaking research in the 1970s that found THC in marijuana helps prevent chemotherapy-related vomiting. "If I had a teenager -- not a 7-year-old -- who kind of liked the psychological side effects, and it offered additional anti-vomiting protection, I would say, why not?" said Sallan. On the other hand, Sallan said marijuana isn't part of the "first line of anything we use" when treating childhood leukemia. Aware of the medical community's concerns, the couple has not discussed Mykayla's marijuana use with Glover, though they said the doctor is aware of it. Krenzler said he also didn't tell doctors when he gave Mykayla marijuana in the hospital. "She has never asked for a pain pill," he said. "We're not going to stop what works." Medical Marijuana Continuing coverage of medical marijuana by The Oregonian's Noelle Crombie. Mykayla's father said he was stunned to learn her oncologist was not consulted about the child's marijuana use. Comstock, who works in a North Dakota oil field, pays Purchase child support and covers Mykayla's health insurance. He said he observed strange behavior during an August visit and took Mykayla to a private lab, where technicians detected THC levels of an adult daily marijuana user. Gladstone police contacted the girl's mother, examined Mykayla's medical marijuana paperwork, then told Comstock there was little they could do. Comstock, who used pot in the past, said he doesn't object to people over 16 using medical marijuana. But he worries about his daughter's well being and the potential for addiction. "She's not terminally ill," Comstock said. "She is going to get over this, and with all this pot, they are going to hinder her brain growth. "It's going to limit her options in life because of the decisions her mother has made for her." Hope Mykayla disappeared into the bedroom of a friend's home one recent evening and emerged in a pistachio-colored gown. Someone she'd never met had sent her 1,000 paper cranes that, according to Japanese tradition, offer a wish for healing. The tiny cranes, fastened to strings dangling from a belt, rose as Mykayla twirled. "When you get married," her mom told her, "you can wear it with your wedding dress." Mykayla took a seat at the kitchen counter, where she eagerly pored over a stack of letters from her classmates at Sherwood Heights Elementary in Pendleton, closely examining their crayon illustrations. "Dear Mykayla," she read aloud. "I hope you feel better. Do you like cats?" Snacking on kiwi, she remembered the fun she had playing with friends and visiting the Pendleton Roundup before she got sick. Mykayla will be the one to choose when to stop using marijuana, her mother said. For now, Purchase hopes other parents won't judge her for decisions she made when her daughter was "walking a line between life and death." "As a mother," she said, "I am going to try anything before she can potentially fall on the other side." Mykayla's mother maintains a Facebook page dedicated to her daughter's health and use of medical marijuana. -- Noelle Crombie

7-year-old one of Oregon's youngest medical marijuana patients

PORTLAND, Ore. - A 7-year-old girl suffering from leukemia is one of Oregon's youngest medical marijuana patients. Her mother says she gives her daughter marijuana pills to combat the effects of chemotherapy, but her father, who lives in North Dakota, worries about the effects of the drug on her brain development. Mykayla Comstock was diagnosed with leukemia last spring. Her mother treats her with a gram of cannabis oil daily, The Oregonian reported [Visit the Brave Mykayla Facebook page] Mykayla's mother credits the drug for the leukemia's remission. "As a mother, I am going to try anything before she can potentially fall on the other side," said Erin Purchase, 25, who with her boyfriend administers Mykayla's cannabis. The girl says the drug helps her eat and sleep but also makes her feel "funny." "It helps me eat and sleep," Mykayla said. "The chemotherapy makes you feel like you want to stay up all night long." Mykayla's father, who is divorced from the girl's mother, was so disturbed by his daughter's marijuana use that he contacted child welfare officials, police and her oncologist. The father, Jesse Comstock, said his concerns were prompted by a visit with Mykayla in August. "She was stoned out of her mind," said Comstock, 26. "All she wanted to do was lay on the bed and play video games." Comstock, who works in a North Dakota oil field, pays child support to Purchase and covers Mykayla's health insurance. He said he observed strange behavior during an August visit and took Mykayla to a private lab, where technicians detected THC levels of an adult daily marijuana user. Gladstone police contacted the girl's mother, examined Mykayla's medical marijuana paperwork, then told Comstock there was little they could do. Comstock, who used pot in the past, said he doesn't object to people over 16 using medical marijuana. But he worries about his daughter's well-being and the potential for addiction. "She's not terminally ill," Comstock said. "She is going to get over this, and with all this pot, they are going to hinder her brain growth. "It's going to limit her options in life because of the decisions her mother has made for her," he added. Oregon law requires no monitoring of a child's medical marijuana use by a pediatrician. The law instead invests authority in parents to decide the dosage, frequency and manner of a child's marijuana consumption. Many doctors worry about introducing a child to marijuana when they say other drugs can treat pain and nausea more effectively. Purchase believes marijuana heals, and credits the drug for curing her stepfather's skin cancer. She herself is an Oregon medical marijuana patient, and her boyfriend is Mykayla's grower. She is so convinced of the drug's safety that she consumed it during the pregnancy and while breastfeeding her second child. When her symptoms are especially bad, Mykayla's mother and her mother's boyfriend will feed her cannabis-infused food. She's had up to 1.2 grams of cannabis oil in 24 hours, the rough equivalent of smoking 10 joints. Purchase said Mykayla's first oncologist called the marijuana use "inappropriate." With marijuana, Purchase said her daughter has been able to fight past the chemotherapy and return to a sense of normalcy. "She's like she was before," her mother said. "She's a normal kid." http://www.king5.com/news/7-year-old-Oregon-girl-gets-medical-marijuana-to-combat-chemo-180770401.html?fb_action_ids=306928252755324&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%22306928252755324%22%3A492543764119393%7D&action_type_map=%7B%22306928252755324%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

[New post] Brainwashed Police Prosecute Parents to Protect Vaccines

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Studies show more kids are not getting enough Vitamin D

Are your kids getting enough Vitamin D? It’s something that should be on every parent’s radar.

Studies show the fundamental role Vitamin D plays in disease and health. Vitamin D deficiency can silently develop in childhood.

Doctors miss baby's fracture

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-08-10/doctors-miss-babys-fracture/

Jasmine Childs had a fractured thigh bone which doctors initially failed to spot. Photo: ITV Meridian

Stacey and Darren Childs want to raise awareness of Vitamin D deficiency in children after doctors failed to diagnose a bone fracture in their baby daughter and they feared she might be taken away from them.

Their daughter Jasmine is normally giggling and contented. One evening she suddenly appeared to be suffering extreme pain in one leg. At Worthing Hospital doctors X-rayed her hips then sent her home.

Next morning her parents took her to Brighton Children's Hospital because she was still in agony. Again only her hips were X-rayed. Again she was sent home.

It wasn't until a follow up appointment in Brighton five days later that doctors diagnosed a fracture of the thigh bone.

After a night in hospital under suspicion Stacey was told blood tests had shown Jasmine had low levels of vitamin D which is essential for strong bones. As well as fractures a lack of vitamin D can cause rickets where bones soften and bend.

Lack of exposure to sun is the most common cause of vitamin D deficiency. Jasmine may have been vulnerable because she's still being breastfed and eats little solid food.

In a statement the hospital said "Child protection is a very important part of paediatric care and we apply the Sussex wide standards to all appropriate cases. This includes looking for both medical and non-accidental causes for certain injuries at the same time."

In April a couple were cleared of killing their baby who had severe rickets. The family say it mustn't happen to anyone else.

Monday, November 12, 2012

[New post] Shaken Baby Syndrome Accusations A Modern Day Witch Hunt

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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

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Sunday, December 23, 2012

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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Lessons from the Oregon Supreme Court’s Decision in J.R.F.

Monday, December 3, 2012

New post on Medical Misdiagnosis Research

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

New post on Medical Misdiagnosis Research

Monday, November 12, 2012

New post on Medical Misdiagnosis Research

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