Thursday, 8 January 2015

APNewsBreak: Girl says she knows she'll die without chemo

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Posted: Thursday, January 8, 2015 9:15 pm | Updated: 10:45 pm, Thu Jan 8, 2015.
Associated Press |
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A 17-year-old girl being forced by state officials to undergo chemotherapy for her cancer said Thursday she understands she'll die if she stops treatment but it should be her decision. The state Supreme Court ruled earlier in the day state officials aren't violating the rights of the girl, Cassandra C., who has Hodgkin lymphoma.
Cassandra told The Associated Press in an exclusive text interview from her hospital it disgusts her to have "such toxic harmful drugs" in her body and she'd like to explore alternative treatments. She said she understands "death is the outcome of refusing chemo" but believes in "the quality of my life, not the quantity."
"Being forced into the surgery and chemo has traumatized me," Cassandra wrote. "I do believe I am mature enough to make the decision to refuse the chemo, but it shouldn't be about maturity, it should be a given human right to decide what you want and don't want for your own body."
The court ruled Cassandra's lawyers had the opportunity to prove she's mature enough to make that decision during a Juvenile Court hearing in December and failed to do so.
Cassandra will be free to make her own medical decisions when she turns 18 in September. She, with her mother, had fought against the six-month course of chemotherapy.
The case centered on whether the girl is mature enough to determine how to treat her Hodgkin lymphoma, with which she was diagnosed in September. Several other states recognize the mature minor doctrine.
Cassandra was allowed to go home to undergo treatment in November but ran away for a week, according to court documents.
"Cassandra either intentionally misrepresented her intentions to the trial court or she changed her mind on this issue of life and death," Chief Justice Chase T. Rogers said.
Cassandra is confined in a room at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford, where she's being forced to undergo chemotherapy, which doctors said would give her an 85 percent chance of survival. Without it, they said, there was a near certainty of death within two years.
The teen's mother, Jackie Fortin, of Windsor Locks, said after the arguments Thursday that as a single mom for the last 15 years she wouldn't allow her daughter to die. She said they just want to seek alternative treatments that don't include putting the "poison" of chemotherapy into her body.
Cassandra said in her text to the AP she believes there's "a natural way or at least an alternative to chemo out there that I am willing to look for and explore. Not that it would cure the cancer but it may help it."
Fortin and her lawyer said they're considering their next step but expect to go back to the trial court in an attempt to more fully explore the mature minor argument.
After Cassandra was diagnosed with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma, she and her mother missed several appointments, prompting doctors to notify the state Department of Children and Families, court documents say.
The child welfare agency investigated, and a trial court granted it temporary custody of Cassandra. Lawyers for Cassandra and her mother then sought an injunction prohibiting medical treatment but failed.
Cassandra's treatment resumed Dec. 17, with surgery to install in her chest a port used to administer the drugs. Chemotherapy began the next day.
Child welfare agency officials defended their treatment of Cassandra, saying they have a responsibility to protect her.
"This is a curable illness, and we will continue to ensure that Cassandra receives the treatment she needs to become a healthy and happy adult," they said.
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Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZpRfYaOIbwyBZeLW0QumaL/IMF-to-provide-new-funds-to-help-three-main-Ebolahit-nation.html?utm_source=copy
IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations The money could be made available in the first quarter of this year and would add to $130 million disbursed by the Fund in September E-mailPrint James Harding Giahyue Mail Me inShare 0 inShare 0 Comments Subscribe to: Daily Newsletter Breaking News Latest News 09:19 AM IST Rupee trades higher at 62.35 per dollar 09:08 AM IST Videocon-BPCL JV with Petrobras find more oil in Brazil 09:03 AM IST IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations 08:53 AM IST CES 2015 | What happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas 08:50 AM IST Boston named US bid city for 2024 Olympics Editor's picks India plans five $5 billion green energy funds India plans five $5 billion green energy funds India, US get down to business India, US get down to business The remarkable journey of Carnival’s Shrikant Bhasi The remarkable journey of Carnival’s Shrikant Bhasi Aam Aadmi Party’s charisma is over: Satish Upadhyay Aam Aadmi Party’s charisma is over: Satish Upadhyay French police swoop on villages after Paris attack suspects seen French police swoop on villages after Paris attack suspects seen IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are at the centre of the Ebola outbreak that has killed 8,235 people out of 20,747 infected over the past year, WHO said on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Monrovia: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing around $150 million in additional support to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic, the Fund’s representative in Liberia told Reuters on Thursday. “In Guinea and Sierra Leone, existing Fund financial programmes are being augmented to provide more resources to these countries. In Liberia, a one-off disbursement under the Fund’s Rapid Credit Facility is being considered,” Charles Amo-Yartey told Reuters in an email. The money could be made available in the first quarter of this year and would add to $130 million disbursed by the Fund in September. The epidemic has damaged the economies of the three West African states, two of which, Liberia and Sierra Leone, are recovering from civil wars. The three are at the centre of the Ebola outbreak that has killed 8,235 people out of 20,747 infected over the past year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Sierra Leone, the country worst hit, reported nearly 250 new confirmed cases in the past week, but the spread of the virus there may be slowing. The rate of transmission has ebbed in Liberia and Guinea. The aid follows a decision by Group of 20 (G20) leaders in Australia in November to support countries hit by Ebola through reform of the Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust, said an IMF spokeswoman in Washington. The trust was set up after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010 to enable the IMF to join debt relief efforts for very poor countries hit by natural disasters. IMF staff are working to present a proposal to the Fund’s executive board in January for at least $130 million in interest-free financial support to the three countries, the spokeswoman said. Reuters

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZpRfYaOIbwyBZeLW0QumaL/IMF-to-provide-new-funds-to-help-three-main-Ebolahit-nation.html?utm_source=copy
IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations The money could be made available in the first quarter of this year and would add to $130 million disbursed by the Fund in September E-mailPrint James Harding Giahyue Mail Me inShare 0 inShare 0 Comments Subscribe to: Daily Newsletter Breaking News Latest News 09:19 AM IST Rupee trades higher at 62.35 per dollar 09:08 AM IST Videocon-BPCL JV with Petrobras find more oil in Brazil 09:03 AM IST IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations 08:53 AM IST CES 2015 | What happens in Vegas doesn’t necessarily stay in Vegas 08:50 AM IST Boston named US bid city for 2024 Olympics Editor's picks India plans five $5 billion green energy funds India plans five $5 billion green energy funds India, US get down to business India, US get down to business The remarkable journey of Carnival’s Shrikant Bhasi The remarkable journey of Carnival’s Shrikant Bhasi Aam Aadmi Party’s charisma is over: Satish Upadhyay Aam Aadmi Party’s charisma is over: Satish Upadhyay French police swoop on villages after Paris attack suspects seen French police swoop on villages after Paris attack suspects seen IMF to provide new funds to help three main Ebola-hit nations Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are at the centre of the Ebola outbreak that has killed 8,235 people out of 20,747 infected over the past year, WHO said on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Monrovia: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is preparing around $150 million in additional support to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic, the Fund’s representative in Liberia told Reuters on Thursday. “In Guinea and Sierra Leone, existing Fund financial programmes are being augmented to provide more resources to these countries. In Liberia, a one-off disbursement under the Fund’s Rapid Credit Facility is being considered,” Charles Amo-Yartey told Reuters in an email. The money could be made available in the first quarter of this year and would add to $130 million disbursed by the Fund in September. The epidemic has damaged the economies of the three West African states, two of which, Liberia and Sierra Leone, are recovering from civil wars. The three are at the centre of the Ebola outbreak that has killed 8,235 people out of 20,747 infected over the past year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday. Sierra Leone, the country worst hit, reported nearly 250 new confirmed cases in the past week, but the spread of the virus there may be slowing. The rate of transmission has ebbed in Liberia and Guinea. The aid follows a decision by Group of 20 (G20) leaders in Australia in November to support countries hit by Ebola through reform of the Post-Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust, said an IMF spokeswoman in Washington. The trust was set up after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010 to enable the IMF to join debt relief efforts for very poor countries hit by natural disasters. IMF staff are working to present a proposal to the Fund’s executive board in January for at least $130 million in interest-free financial support to the three countries, the spokeswoman said. Reuters

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/ZpRfYaOIbwyBZeLW0QumaL/IMF-to-provide-new-funds-to-help-three-main-Ebolahit-nation.html?utm_source=copy
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