Judge lifts orders in teen's case

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189600372&path=!news&s=1045855934842

Cancer patient doesn't have to report to hospital; trial set next month to settle dispute
BY SHAUN BISHOP
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
ACCOMAC -- A Chincoteague teenager's fight to use alternative medicine to treat his cancer will get another chance after a judge suspended an earlier ruling forcing him to undergo traditional treatment.
"This is the best moment that I've ever felt in my life. I feel so happy," Starchild Abraham Cherrix, 16, said outside the courthouse.
"Now I'm feeling free, I'm feeling like I have my rights back and I'm feeling like I'm in America once again," said the teen who has said conventional treatment made him so ill he never wants to go through it again.
Attorneys representing the Cherrix family said the eventual outcome of the case could have broad implications for the decision-making powers of parents in Virginia.
"This is a huge victory for this family, but as far as we're concerned, this is a huge victory for all Virginians," said John Stepanovich, an attorney for Cherrix's parents, Jay and Rose Cherrix, who support their son's decision.
In a hearing yesterday, Accomack Circuit Judge Glen Allen Tyler suspended two key judgments the Accomack Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court made in the case last week. As a result:
Cherrix did not have to go to a Norfolk hospital yesterday afternoon and submit to tests and treatment prescribed by doctors, as ordered last Friday by the juvenile court.
His parents regained custody of their son. The juvenile court had given partial custody to the county's Department of Social Services, which supported requiring him to undergo the hospital treatment.
It was an emotional victory for the Cherrix family, which has been fighting to allow Abraham to use an organic diet and herbal supplements as treatment for Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes.
The teen's case began after he sought the alternative remedy under advisement from a clinic in Mexico when the cancer returned in February. He had gone through chemotherapy when the cancer was first discovered a year ago.
After his case was reported to the local Department of Social Services, Juvenile Court Judge Jesse E. Demps ruled last Friday that Cherrix would have to undergo treatment at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk yesterday afternoon and ordered his parents to consent to the doctors' orders.
Jay and Rose Cherrix appealed the rulings on Monday and were granted yester- day's hearing.
"I felt like we had Abraham back and we were a family again," said Jay Cherrix, his father.
Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell also filed a brief in the circuit court supporting the family's request to stay the juvenile-court judge's rulings. McDonnell filed a similar brief in juvenile court during their appeal Monday.
Tyler set the trial date for Aug. 16 in Accomack Circuit Court to decide whether the social-services department can force the teen to undergo conventional cancer treatment.
Attorneys for the Cherrixes said they plan to present expert witnesses, including clinicians from the Mexico clinic that is supervising Abraham's treatment.
"It's being portrayed out there that he's just sort of waiting around on his deathbed," Stepanovich said. "He's under a treatment that he chose . . . and he's doing great."
The case has attracted national media attention as Cherrix has appeared on CNN and NBC's "Today" show, among other programs.
In court yesterday, Stepanovich said going to the hospital for chemotherapy would do irreparable, irreversible harm to Cherrix and would essentially render moot the family's right to appeal the order that he receive hospital treatment.
Carl Bundick, a lawyer from the Department of Social Services, agreed that a stay would be appropriate given the circumstances, but urged the judge to schedule another hearing promptly.
"We're wanting the child to be treated appropriately," Bundick said.
A juvenile-court hearing two weeks ago was closed to the public, but Tyler said yesterday that since the family had been discussing the case with the media, he did not see a reason the Aug. 16 trial should be closed.
Abraham Cherrix said he remains confident that he will get a favorable ruling, and he believes people around the nation are watching and hoping for a similar outcome.
"This could happen to anyone," he said. "This is something the government can do, and you've got to let people know this can't happen."
Contact staff writer Shaun Bishop at sbishop@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6578.