[Reader-list] Judge lifts orders in teen's case

[Jeebesh Bagchi]

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Judge lifts orders in teen's case
Cancer patient doesn't have to report to hospital; trial set next  
month to settle dispute

BY SHAUN BISHOP
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
	
Jul 26, 2006

Judge lifts orders in teen's case

ACCOMAC -- A Chincoteague teenager's fight to use alternative  
medicine to treat his cancer will get another chance after a judge  
suspended an earlier ruling forcing him to undergo traditional  
treatment.

"This is the best moment that I've ever felt in my life. I feel so  
happy," Starchild Abraham Cherrix, 16, said outside the courthouse.

"Now I'm feeling free, I'm feeling like I have my rights back and I'm  
feeling like I'm in America once again," said the teen who has said  
conventional treatment made him so ill he never wants to go through  
it again.

Attorneys representing the Cherrix family said the eventual outcome  
of the case could have broad implications for the decision-making  
powers of parents in Virginia.

"This is a huge victory for this family, but as far as we're  
concerned, this is a huge victory for all Virginians," said John  
Stepanovich, an attorney for Cherrix's parents, Jay and Rose Cherrix,  
who support their son's decision.

In a hearing yesterday, Accomack Circuit Judge Glen Allen Tyler  
suspended two key judgments the Accomack Juvenile and Domestic  
Relations District Court made in the case last week. As a result:

     * Cherrix did not have to go to a Norfolk hospital yesterday  
afternoon and submit to tests and treatment prescribed by doctors, as  
ordered last Friday by the juvenile court.

     * His parents regained custody of their son. The juvenile court  
had given partial custody to the county's Department of Social  
Services, which supported requiring him to undergo the hospital  
treatment.

It was an emotional victory for the Cherrix family, which has been  
fighting to allow Abraham to use an organic diet and herbal  
supplements as treatment for Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph  
nodes.

The teen's case began after he sought the alternative remedy under  
advisement from a clinic in Mexico when the cancer returned in  
February. He had gone through chemotherapy when the cancer was first  
discovered a year ago.

After his case was reported to the local Department of Social  
Services, Juvenile Court Judge Jesse E. Demps ruled last Friday that  
Cherrix would have to undergo treatment at Children's Hospital of the  
King's Daughters in Norfolk yesterday afternoon and ordered his  
parents to consent to the doctors' orders.

Jay and Rose Cherrix appealed the rulings on Monday and were granted  
yester- day's hearing.

"I felt like we had Abraham back and we were a family again," said  
Jay Cherrix, his father.

Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell also filed a brief in the  
circuit court supporting the family's request to stay the juvenile- 
court judge's rulings. McDonnell filed a similar brief in juvenile  
court during their appeal Monday.

Tyler set the trial date for Aug. 16 in Accomack Circuit Court to  
decide whether the social-services department can force the teen to  
undergo conventional cancer treatment.

Attorneys for the Cherrixes said they plan to present expert  
witnesses, including clinicians from the Mexico clinic that is  
supervising Abraham's treatment.

"It's being portrayed out there that he's just sort of waiting around  
on his deathbed," Stepanovich said. "He's under a treatment that he  
chose . . . and he's doing great."

The case has attracted national media attention as Cherrix has  
appeared on CNN and NBC's "Today" show, among other programs.

In court yesterday, Stepanovich said going to the hospital for  
chemotherapy would do irreparable, irreversible harm to Cherrix and  
would essentially render moot the family's right to appeal the order  
that he receive hospital treatment.

Carl Bundick, a lawyer from the Department of Social Services, agreed  
that a stay would be appropriate given the circumstances, but urged  
the judge to schedule another hearing promptly.

"We're wanting the child to be treated appropriately," Bundick said.

A juvenile-court hearing two weeks ago was closed to the public, but  
Tyler said yesterday that since the family had been discussing the  
case with the media, he did not see a reason the Aug. 16 trial should  
be closed.

Abraham Cherrix said he remains confident that he will get a  
favorable ruling, and he believes people around the nation are  
watching and hoping for a similar outcome.

"This could happen to anyone," he said. "This is something the  
government can do, and you've got to let people know this can't happen."

Contact staff writer Shaun Bishop at sbishop at timesdispatch.com or  
(804) 649-6578.