Father fights son's chemotherapy

HAMILTON, Ontario, May 12 (UPI) -- The father of an 11-year-old Canadian boy removed from the man's custody to undergo cancer chemotherapy treatment has hired a Toronto lawyer.

The boy, who can't be identified, was at a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, last Thursday for tests when Children's Aid Society workers took temporary custody of him, and he was kept for treatment, the Globe and Mail reported.

Medical staff members apparently were aware the boy and his father were opposed to more chemotherapy to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was diagnosed when he was 7 and until January had been cancer free for a year after chemotherapy, but the disease recurred.

His father and stepmother legally challenged chemotherapy but two top pediatric oncologists said the boy will die without the aggressive treatment which has a cure rate exceeding 80 percent, the report said. The judge then ruled the boy isn't capable of understanding the implications of refusing chemotherapy.

The boy is scheduled for release from the hospital Tuesday but his father said he didn't know if he would be given custody back, the report said.

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