A Perth court has ordered a six-year-old boy be given chemotherapy for a malignant brain tumour after his parents refused treatment.
A Princess Margaret Hospital doctor took legal action after Angela Kiszko and Adrian Strachan refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy for their son Oshin, who was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in December.
The Swan View parents argued they could not bear to see their son suffer the side effects of cancer treatment like a “lab rat”. Instead they wanted palliative care to give the family quality time together.
But WA’s Family Court ruled treatment should start the Sunday after Oshin’s planned birthday party. The couple have also been banned from taking their son out of the country.
The court was told Oshin, who had surgery last year, would die within a few months without treatment. However, he had a 30 per cent prospect of surviving for five years if chemotherapy started immediately and a 50 per cent chance with both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
In his judgment Family Court chief justice Stephen Thackray said the evidence suggested Oshin’s parents had “tried to approach this matter on the basis of what is in the best interests of their child”. He said he did not discount the side effects of treatment.
But the prospect of a long-term cure “is the matter that most heavily must weigh in the decision”.
“One other matter that I think ought to be given weight is that the uncontested medical evidence is that the great majority of other parents faced with a similar decision would opt for the intervention that the hospital proposes,” he said.
Evidence to the court from Ms Kiszko, whose mother and step-mother both died from cancer, was that she had witnessed the side effects of treatment and did not want that for her son.
“I would not put myself through such harsh treatments and such a huge barrage of chemo agents, how can I possibly allow them to do this to Oshin,” she said.
“I have watched and learned what all these children and their families go through and it is nothing short of toxic hell. The children are not really alive, they are completely drugged and exhausted and on the verge of death.
“I don’t see how this is a treatment, yes you may kill some cancer cells for a while at the same time you have completely destroyed the child’s quality of life. It almost feels like Nazi Germany and I am honestly sickened by the treatment of all these children.”
Ms Kiszko, who has two other children aged eight and 12, said she had worked as a carer and nurse assistant and has studied naturopathy.
Family friend Lynda Jones said Oshin’s parents were “very knowing” and had made “an informed decision that there are better options available elsewhere, specialised medical options”.
“If he survives, he will have hearing aids, cataracts in his eyes, his spine won’t develop properly, he will never have an IQ over 70,” she told Seven News.
“His thyroid and pituitary gland will be bastardised and he will need hormones for his whole life.”
His parents had considered the side effects and done their research before making a decision.
Ms Jones said the situation was “absolutely heartbreaking for everyone who knows the family.”
“Only a parent who has been presented with this diagnosis could appreciate what they have been going through,” she said.