Connecticut teen taken from mother and forced to endure chemotherapy

© Photo courtesy of Jackie Fortin

17-year-old Cassandra C.

Hartford - A 17-year-old girl has been taken away from her mother and forced to endure unwanted, risky chemotherapy treatments that she absolutely opposes. The teen has been turned into a ward of the state and has been detained against her will in a hospital room for weeks without any choice in her own life-altering medical decisions or future.

Cassandra C.'s difficulties began in September 2014 when she became ill. Her mother, Jackie Fortin, took her to Connecticut Children's Medical Center, where she was diagnosed with Stage 3/4 Hodgkin's lymphoma.

CCMC doctors surgically removed Cassandra a portion of Cassandra's lymph node, and then pushed her to take chemotherapy drugs. But the strong-willed teen was opposed to the treatment, which she viewed as unacceptably dangerous.

"She has always - even years ago - said that if she was diagnosed with cancer, she would not put poison into her body," Ms. Fortin explained to NBC Connecticut.

Despite doctors' objections, the mother and daughter left the hospital "to seek a second opinion" in another state. CCMC doctors proceeded to get the government involved. They called Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) alleging "parental medical neglect."

© Wikipedia

A collection of chemotherapeutic drugs.

DCF went to Superior Court and got a court order that Cassandra would be forced to endure chemotherapy. Initially, Cassandra and her mother complied, and she was subjected to two compulsory chemo treatments in November 2014.

Cassandra, growing weak and discouraged, "subsequently ran away from home to avoid further treatment," according to the state Judicial Branch summary.

When Cassandra returned, she continued to refuse treatment, the summary says.

After a hearing in the Child Protection Session of Superior Court, at which Cassandra's doctors testified, the trial court "ordered that she be removed from her home and that she remain in DCF's care and custody."

Ms. Fortin said that in a letter to the Superior Court judge, Cassandra wrote that "no one has let her breathe" since the state took over her health care.

The court made Cassandra into a ward of the state and authorized DCF "to make all necessary medical decisions on Cassandra's behalf."

Against her will, Cassandra was subsequently hospitalized and not allowed to leave. Her mother says Cassandra "put up a fight" and was physically strapped to a bed, then forced to endure unwanted surgery and chemotherapy.

Cassandra has been detained in a hospital room for approximately four weeks and counting (since December 2014), according to the Hartford Courant.