Rally on Friday 8 a.m. for Justina Pelletier

Letter to the Editor – Re: Justice for Justina

Friday morning, Jan. 10th, a growing group of people who are appalled at the handling of Justina Pelletier's medical case by Children's Hospital, plan to meet up at 8 a.m. at 24 New Chardon St. by the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse to protest the handling of this matter, and appeal to the Court to decide in Justina's favor, releasing her custody back to her parents.     

According to investigative reporting by the Globe and other various news agencies within the last month, a teen and her family have been stripped of the dignity of personal choice between two divergent medical opinions when they took their daughter their with complications from the flu to see her former gastroenterologist who had moved from Tufts to Children's.  Instead, the hospital substituted a team of doctors who did not accept the mitochondrial disorder as valid, and informed the parents they would be removing the teen from her medications.  When the parents wished their daughter to be transferred back to Tufts, BCH, instead, called the DCF to petition for custody, and had their security officers escort the parents out of the hospital.  Calling Justina's disorder somatic, they placed her (against her wishes) in the locked down psych ward, Bader 5, where she has been forced to remain for the last 10 months.

If the court rules against the Pelletiers Friday, Justina could remain at the hospital until she turns 18, being treated for psychiatric, rather than her physical disorders.  If you find this unbelievable to be happening in our country, please check the following articles, and join us on Friday at the courthouse at 24 New Chardon, Boston.

For more information, check out the Boston Globe investigative reports from Dec. 15th and 16 ("A Medical Collision with a Child in the Middle") and especially watch FOX-CT’s Beau Berman’s excellent summative video at http://foxct.com/2013/12/19/custody-of-west-hartford-girl-stuck-in-hospital-to-be-decided-friday/. Be sure to also peruse the Facebook pages: "Free Justina Pelletier From Children's Hospital" and "A Miracle for Justina".

Julie Miller - Sudbury