Sarah Hershberger, second from right, is pictured at her family’s roadside stand in Homer Township on Sept. 24. Also pictured are her father and three of her siblings. (PHOTO PROVIDED BY 1851 CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LAW)
Posted on 10/04/2015 10:43:28 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
A Columbus attorney has announced that a 12-year-old Amish girl is cancer-free, despite courtroom testimony last year from doctors that she would be dead in six months without chemotherapy treatments.
Maurice Thompson, the executive director for the libertarian nonprofit 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, said the girl, Sarah Hershberger, shows no signs of cancer and appears to be healthy.
Sarah Hershberger, second from right, is pictured at her family’s roadside stand in Homer Township on Sept. 24. Also pictured are her father and three of her siblings. (PHOTO PROVIDED BY 1851 CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LAW)
“She had MRIs and blood work, and the judge over the last year helped facilitate at least one trip to the Cleveland Clinic. The MRIs did not show any cancer,” Thompson told The Gazette on Friday.
He said the family will continue to treat the girl with less invasive, alternative medicine.
“Once you have it, you’re never 100 percent out of the woods, whether or not you get chemotherapy,” he said. “I know how she looks isn’t really an indication of whether she has cancer, but she’s looking very healthy.”
When Sarah was diagnosed with cancer in 2013, her parents accepted chemo treatment for her at Akron Children’s Hospital. But Andy and Anna Hershberger, of Homer Township, said they felt the treatments were killing their daughter and ceased her treatments.
Akron Children’s Hospital responded by filing in Medina County Probate Court to obtain “limited guardianship” of the girl, which would grant them the power to make medical decisions for the girl. That’s when doctors testified Sarah would die without chemo treatment.
Probate Judge John J. Lohn, who has since retired, at first ruled the girl’s parents were competent to make their own decisions about their daughter’s health. The case then bounced between probate and appellate courts before Lohn was ordered to appoint a guardian.
Sarah’s family responded by fleeing the country last year to seek alternative treatment in Mexico and Canada. Months later, the hospital relinquished its guardianship.
Thompson said Probate Judge Kevin Dunn — who replaced Lohn when he retired in 2014 — formally terminated Sarah’s guardianship on Sept. 24. Thompson said the judge acknowledged that Sarah, who will turn 13 in November, showed no symptoms of cancer and that she appeared to be healthy.
When contacted by The Gazette several times this week, a spokesperson for Dunn said the judge had not yet prepared a journal entry regarding the hearing and she declined to confirm any of the events at the hearing. The entry is expected early next week.
In the wake of Sarah’s case, Thompson called on lawmakers to reform Ohio’s laws that grant judges the power to overrule parental decisions regarding their children’s health and wellbeing.
“It is now time for Ohio’s legislators to protect Ohio families from wayward judges,” the attorney said.
He criticized the legal test that judges relied on in the Hershberger case in order to supersede the Hershbergers’ decision to stop chemotherapy treatments.
“This test allows county judges to overrule health care, educational and other important decisions of suitable Ohio parents,” Thompson said. “In the wake of Sarah’s case, the concept came to be known as ‘medical kidnapping.’ ”
Akron Children’s Hospital declined on Thursday to comment on Thompson’s accusations.
A spokesperson said, however, that the hospital has established a committee with the Amish community to facilitate better communication regarding healthcare in the wake of Sarah’s case.
“Family-centered care has long been a tenet at Akron Children’s Hospital. Our caregivers strive every day to involve parents in decision making and to respect the cultural differences of our patient families,” the spokesperson said. “We have been updated periodically by Sarah’s family members through this committee and wish Sarah continued good health.”
Well, you can pay for prescription drugs that will kill you. Sounds like she is smart.
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Cancer never kills; Cancer Therapy is what kills.
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Usually, the “incompetent adult” is the probate judge.
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LOL! No comment on the arm pushing treatment?
BTW she doesn’t have allergies, I have allergies. I know how the body reacts and what works and what doesn’t. She has a nervous intestine called IBS. Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She has an MD but gets off on the witch doctor, who loves to take her money for pushing her arm.
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B-17 (Amygdalen) is one way that works, and Protocel is another.
Both are very effective, but interestingly, if the two are used together, neither is very effective.
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First do no harm. If she thinks it works that is better than deadly drugs.
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These trolls with their imaginary friend anecdotes should be tried for murder, along with their doctors.
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The apricot pits, and wild almonds work well and quickly, as long as you don’t sacrifice your life to the AMA witch ducturs.
If you allow them to weaken your immune system, then a cure by any means becomes unlikely.
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Exactly right. They will be tried.
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What you describe is not normal alternative therapy.
The kooks that do that are as bad as the AMA murderers.
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IBS is a destruction of the natural bacteria in the large intestine caused by taking antibiotics, and in some elderly people by the lack of naturral stomach acid, which can be alleviated with betane HCL capsules and probiotic enemas containing the normal bacteria from a healthy individual.
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Excuse me?
Who the hell do you think you are?
How dare you question my truthfulness on this Forum?
“Imaginary Friends”? Why, you must be the Amazing Kreskin.
I have seen many personal attacks here, but you my Friend have gone far beyond the pale. I expressed a viewpoint regarding what I consider quackery that has taken People’s lives, one who was very near and dear to our Family.
That did not grant you permission to call me a Liar or question my choice of Treatment for my Blood Cancer.
Now I have an Anti Christ agenda? Where did you even dream up such nonsense?
I will expect a Public Apology Posting for your rudeness and outlandish accusations. I will also be reporting your obnoxious Post to the Moderator. I am in disbelief.
Yogurt works if you can tolerate dairy.
I know he is keeping his PH up, but I will relay this to him.
He, now this is funny, he gave my dad a copy of a book called World Without Cancer. told him that he and I should read it. We will.
Man ... I’m almost afraid to read it! {^) Thanks for the tip — will look for it.
The alt. health people say cancer likes an acid condition. That if you alkalize your system it has a hard time growing. FWIW of course!
Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) for Cancer Treatment
http://drsircus.com/medicine/sodium-bicarbonate-baking-soda/cancer-treatment/
For questions pertaining to your own personal health issues or for specific dosing of Dr. Sircus’s ... Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) ... Sodium Bicarbonate Cancer ...
Yogurt works in the small intestine if it is real, raw milk yogurt.
It can’t help the damage that antibiotics do to the large intestine, because the stomach acid kills to many of the bacteria. The enema culture, or a thick shell probiotic capsule are necessary for the large intestine.
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