Court forcing 16 yr old with cancer into chemo

[Prudence]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

I could go with that if he were expressing the desire to die with dignity. He isn't, he thinks this treatment is more likely to cure him than the traditional treatments.

Since he doesn't want to die (apparently) it is hard to see how the treatment could be worse than the disease, which will certainly kill him.

It depends on individual reactions to treatment methods. It is possible that the treatment will kill faster than the disease. That's why my grandmother stopped her chemo. The cancer would kill her over a period of years (turned out to be a decade or so) but one more chemo treatment would have done her in. I'm not suggesting that is the case with this particular boy; I was merely responding to the "sometimes" statement I quoted.