Despite parent’s refusal, Perth court orders chemotherapy for 6-year-old boy with brain tumour

A Perth court just prevailed over the parents of a six-year-old boy suffering from brain tumour. The court, based on a legal action launched by his doctor at the Princess Margaret Hospital after the parents of Oshin Strachan, Angela Kiszko and Adrian Strachan, refused chemotherapy for their son diagnosed with medulloblastoma in December.

In justifying the decision, the parents insist they do not want Oshin to become a lab rat, reports 9News. Kiszko prefers palliative care because she witnessed her mother and stepmother suffer from the side effects of chemotherapy while battling cancer.

In opposing chemotherapy, Kiszo told the court, “The children are not really alive, they are completely drugged and exhausted and on the verge of death.”

In overruling the parents, Stephen Thackray, chief justice of the Family Court in Perth, acknowledges the parents are doing what they believe is right, but the justice says he weighed heavily on the prospect of a long-term cure and majority of parents would opt for the treatment.

He points out that Oshin has a 30 percent chance of surviving for five years if he immediately starts chemotherapy. If it is combined with radiotherapy, the chances of survival goes up by 50 percent, but Oshin could die if he does not undergo further treatment, reports The Australian.

Oshin had surgery in 2015, and doctors warn he could die within months if he does not undergo chemotherapy. Thackray ordered that Oshin begin the treatment after his birthday party and banned the parents from bringing the boy out of Australia.