Court orders 15-year-old who says treatment is ‘worse than cancer’ to undergo stem cell transplant
The teen's mother also believed God had cured her and that she would face 'spiritual consequences' if she approved treatment.
A court has ordered a teenager with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to accept a stem cell transplant after the patient and her mother refused to consent.
The girl, 15, told the Supreme Court of Victoria that she felt her treatment had been worse than her cancer, while her mother insisted that God had cured her child and further treatment would trigger “spiritual consequences”.
However, Justice Andrea Tsalamandris ordered doctors to proceed, saying the girl — given the pseudonym JJ — had impaired judgement because of her anger towards her treating team.
JJ was diagnosed in 2022 but entered remission after chemotherapy and immunotherapy at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
