Anybody who has listened to the news or read a newspaper recently will be aware of Ashya King's case. which has been very badly handled by UK authorities!!
When the story first broke we were given the impression that his parents were irresponsible in removing him from Southampton hospital and further aspersions were cast on them due to them being Jehovah's Witnesses - those people who refuse blood etc., - something that was not in the slightest way applicable in this case. The arrest warrant was issued for child cruelty. It was subsequently revealed that the parents provided the equipment that Southampton Hospital were using and were in fact wanting him to have Proton Therapy and were selling a property in Spain to fund it en route to a Proton Centre in mainland Europe believing this would give a better result than the prosed Photon RT in Southampton. They may or may not have been right in this situation. Certainly, hundreds of UK patients with head/neck tumours have received UK funding for Proton Therapy abroad, mainly in the USA. Surely all this upset and heavy handed treatment could have been avoided if the doctors at Southampton Hospital had said they they doubted Proton Therapy would be any better in Ashya's case but that they would be prepared to put his histology and scans on a disc for doctors at the Proton Centre to consider provided the King's funded the treatment if the Proton Centre considered it would be beneficial.
The UK doctors, police and local authority have now done a volte-face . It was said that Ashya had only about 4 months to live and if he now now has successful Proton Therapy enabling him to live a long life they are going to look even more repressive than they do at present. I hope those responsible are sued as has been mooted and that the King family receive considerable compensation for all they have gone through which will more than cover the cost of Proton Treatment.
I had a cousin who was killed due to photon RT treatment for a brain tumour. I do wonder if we had had the Proton Beam in the UK whether she might have been successfully treated. Unfortunately, despite the low powered Proton Centre at Clatterbridge showing the benefit of Proton Therapy over the years, we are still waiting the building of the two promised higher powered centres in Manchester and London which UK Governments have delayed despite the proven advantages of Proton Therapy for head and neck tumours. Were it not so, funding for some cases for treatment abroad would not have been funded by the UK. That we are years behind many other countries in having Proton Centres is a disgrace attributable to successive UK Governments.
Barry |
User
Some people here are aware that I am involved with brain tumour charities and we have helped fund the research post in Leeds. Normal RT has poor outcomes for many adults with brain tumours and sadly, the risk of permanent brain damage is even greater for children. I did assume to begin with that the parents had removed Ashya because they wanted to stop the treatment and let him have some quality of life (a decision that I have seen families grapple with in our locality) and some of you know that we stopped my mum's treatment because it was horrific. Proton beam offers a real alternative, outcomes have been far better. There are charities that try to help pay the shortfall so that children with brain tumours have a chance of getting the treatment - what a shame that Ashya's family were left feeling that no one was listening to them.
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|
User
So so true re both posts above....The press as usual took a discriminatory approach by reporting they were jehova's witnesses ...which in turn initially led to people thinking they were stopping treatment due to their religious beliefs. Thankfully they are now reunited with their son
User
There are many facets to this story and I am really pleased that things have turned out well so far. One aspect though is why the police took the action they did in the way that they did. I can't help feeling that our police service has come in for much criticism over the past years for what it did do or perhaps shouldn't have done in circumstances where hindsight would have been a wonderful tool.
In Ashya's case I think the police took the action they did because in some respects they were afraid of the criticism that would have been levelled at them had they not taken action and the poor boy had died. I dare say we will find out exactly what information they were given and what they had to base their plans on in due course.
Today's senior police officers aren't what they were but I do feel that in some cases you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Steve
User
If the agencies in Southampton followed the national statutory guidance there will have been a multi-agency strategy meeting involving police, social services, health and others involved with the family. The police are unlikely to have acted unilaterally - more likely that this was agreed by the agencies involved in the strategy discussion and the police simply executed what had been agreed. It will be interesting to see what comes out later but there is a good chance that the case had also been heard at an emergency sitting of the family court and the agencies had been awarded the power to act as they did by a judge. In England, it is unlawful for family court hearings to be reported in the press without a waiver so we may never know the full story. Let's hope that Ashya gets the treatment (if it is actually in his best interests) in time and that his condition improves
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
|