A two-year-old girl with brain cancer has been thrust into the centre of a court fight between her parents and doctors over how her illness should be treated.
Neurosurgeons say a tumour growing deep in Noshin Hogue’s brain probably kill her within two years if it is not removed.
But her parents, Jalaz and Shaheda Hogue of Royal Oak, Mich., are fighting to continue homeopathic treatment in Canada that they say clearly is improving their daughter’s condition.
On Tuesday, the Oakland County prosecutor’s office filed an emergency petition seeking to allow surgeons to remove it.
Judge Martha Anderson, in response, ordered that Noshin undergo tests at Children’s Hospital of Michigan to determine the effectiveness of the homeopathic treatment. Another hearing has been set for May 12.
The tumour lies against several important arteries and affects Noshin’s speech, vision and gait.
Her parents’ lawyer, Charles Cooper, said the family wants less invasive treatment because doctors have said the location of the almost four-centimetre-long mass could make surgery risky.
“Whether this child survives, and whether they want to risk this, that’s something this man and his wife have to decide,” Mr. Cooper told the Detroit Free Press.
Noshin’s pediatrician at Children’s Hospital contacted the state Family Independence Agency after her parents stopped bringing her to appointments.
Doctors testified Tuesday that surgery is the child’s only chance of survival, though even if it is successful she stands only a 20-to-30-per-cent chance of reaching her full life expectancy.
“This is not an attempt to override parental decision-making,” prosecutor David Williams said. “This is an attempt to make sure a child is being properly treated.”
Dr. George Blum, a Southfield pediatrician, said homeopathic medication will not make brain tumours go away.
“I feel very bad for (the Hogues), but I don’t feel their judgment is correct in this,” Dr. Blum said. “I would hate to have something happen to this little girl.”
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