This is so disgusting. A doctor decided his ego was more important than the welfare of a child.

@Patrick: Yes, and he was enough of a jerk to call in CPS.

What's far, far worse: CPS bureaucrats have the authority to take away your child with no due process whatsoever. If you want your child back, you have to prove your case.

This is the kind of situation "tar and feathers" is meant for. Imagine the satisfaction if the entire town were to rise up and tar-and-feather everyone involved in the case: CPS workers, police officers, and the supervisors who approved these actions.

To avoid any confusion, note that the tar has to be hot, in order to stick properly.

I will definitely get second opinions when I have kids, based on the simple fact that I, as a premie, almost died when given a significant overdose by order of my doctor. Luckily I survived, and the hospital was good enough to take care of my parents' medical bills for the birth and my subsequent stay in the ICU, but by all means, parents should get a second opinion.

I said this all along, somebuddy's widdle feewings got hurted. And they overstepped their bounds and tried to screw up this little family in a major way. That asshat's name SHOULD be released.

Nobody should be able to hide behind anonymity when the forces of government are unleashed.

>> CPS bureaucrats have the authority to take away your child with no due process whatsoever.

Only if you give the child up voluntarily. Of course they make it seem like you have no choice with the "don't resist me taking the child," statement made by the police officer taking the child. However, if they don't have a warrant, you do not have to give up your child.

Who says it was a doctor? There are plenty of midlevel personnel in the picture,starting with the nurse who was giving their child an injection but couldn't/wouldn't tell the parents what it was for. Anyone with their nose in a snit and their ego bruised could have picked up the phone. My personal experience is that those lower in the hierarchy than the MD are quicker to get upset with percieved slights.

...or that it was a "he".

The hospital had the child scheduled for major surgery, which two other hospitals have now said had no basis. Malpractice suit in 3...2...

----
In re an earlier comment, it may be different where you are but in most places CPS can indeed seize a child from its home without a warrant.

Especially here, where what they apparently were told was "the child was scheduled for surgery but the parents took it out against medical advice." This is considered an emergency. Similarly, while a police cannot [usually] enter a dwelling without, in my area a gas company employee can - and can call upon police for support - again "emergency."

Yes, this power gets abused all too commonly. Theoretically you can go to court - but it is outrageously expensive, and guess which court has jurisdiction.

While having my fourth son here in Colorado Springs, the pediatrician was quite fed up with me and my now ex-husband. We refused the PKU shot, Vitamin K shot opting to wait until the 8th day to circumcise as we had done with the other three boys, and then we wanted the security anklet removed because our babies stayed with us...there was no risk of him being taken. CPS was called in to question me on my "competency".
Mike was at his parents with our other boys at the time of the visit or Hell would have broken loose!
We must vote in representatives who will STOP this invasive and Unconstitutional abuse of power. It is up to us to elect Liberty minded people locally on up or this will grow out of control.

It is up to us to elect Liberty minded people locally on up or this will grow out of control.

Julie, haven't you been paying attention? It already is out of control. There are children being removed from loving families based on anonymous phone calls not even from "professional" people, while those in abusive situations are still waiting for someone to help them.

This is, fortunately, one of the cases where all ended well. There are too many where the outcomes are way less than that. These people are in Sacramento; you would be appalled at what happens in Bridgeport or New Haven or Hartford, CT, not to mention Chicago or Detroit. It's heinous. I'm just glad this little guy is back where he belongs. I'm sure his parents are now more gun-shy when it comes to the "authorities" than they ever were before.

Julie- I had a similar experience with hospital personnel when having my daughter here in Tx. Though they never called CPS we were hassled to the NTH degree about not complying "medically necessary interventions" such as them trying to force me to give my child a pacifier and formula. I told them I would check us both out AMA if they didnt leave my room immediately. That experience is why when its time for my next little one we will be delivering at home!

yup, CPS is a piece of work that you don't want to cross...
and yet.
When kids are actually relying on them to remove from situations where they are clearly being abused or starved to death... oddly, no-one will take responsibility.

Like it's easier to deal with a concerned conscientious parent, with a healthy child, rather than a methhead with a child that is dying.

You can say tar and feather all you want, but these people are answerable to no-one, effectively. It's all 'for the children'

One reason among many that I moved away from Illinois was their oddly zealous DCFS who tried without due process to breakup my family WHILE my kid was in the ICU with a nasty infection.

Stories like these are why I spend two days working on a 6-page statement concerning the commissary employee who walked up to ME while I was shopping with my 4-month-old and said, "I can report you for letting him cry like that."

Being a loving, adequate parent means nothing these days. You can believe I went full mama grizzly on her.

(The reason for the statement is, as a federal employee, she can't even be reprimanded without a paper trail.)

Deer a_random_guy,

Don't forget the rails when you order up a supply of tar and feathers.

Tar, feathers, rail: some assembly required.

"I can report you for letting him cry like that."

You do realize you left that as a comment on a blog where one of the themes is that children should be seen and not heard? Might as well of said, "can you believe the flight attendant threatened to remove us from the flight because I wouldn't do anything to stop my baby from crying?" Screw CPS but hell, I'd like to be able to report you to someone if you don't do something about that brat. Put down the creamed corn (or whatever you were shopping for at the Federal Commissary) and do something. Point at the stick you hung on the wall if you have to. OK that was taking it too far, I'm not part of the pro spanking camp.

Serious question though: We want our government to intervene on behalf of the babies of vegan parents who are literally starving the child with soymilk, right?
This pattern could be explained by a really petty butt-hurt medical practitioner but I think a more plausible explanation is someone who legitimately thought the parents were going kook (possibly religious kook?) and withholding lifesaving medical care and reported them leaving against medical advice. The CPS response is best explained by incentives. The individuals and agencies will see huge repercussions if they don't act and the child dies but few repercussions for over acting.

In this case it turns out the parents hadn't gone kook. does it matter? what if they had? Would you lambaste CPS stepping in for a child denied cancer treatment because the effects of the chemo were horrible, or because the procedure didn't square with the parent's religion?

The first thing you do if any government official shows up on your door step is ask for id and a search warrant or arrest warrant. You do not let them in your house. You lock the doors. If they break in they need to prove that there was imminent danger without a warrant.

I would suggest having your weapon of choice readily available, but in California possession of an NRA t-shirt is a threat. :-p

Julie, why would you opt out of having the PKU testing done (it's not any sort of shot or immunizatuon, it's a heel prick where they take blood to test for a lifethreatening disorder and required by law)? I have never once heard of somebody refusing it.

I've seen doctors and nurses overreact and get all bent out of shape when patients refuse their recommendations and care plans. I get thinking they are morons for refusing vaccinations and things like that, but I've also never witnessed such a reaction for getting a second opinion. However, if you are going to leave or refuse treatments we have to obtain all the AMA forms to cover our asses against liability. If they up and leave, especially in the case of taking a child without signing the forms, we are supposed to report it to authorities. I think this case is more likely to be about the parents running off with the child without signing all the forms versus just wanting another a second opinion. I still think it's wrong for the child to have been taken from the parents though.

I think this case is more likely to be about the parents running off with the child without signing all the forms versus just wanting another a second opinion. I still think it's wrong for the child to have been taken from the parents though. -- BunnyGirl at May 16, 2013 1:26 AM

The hospital and doctors wanted to do open heart surgery on a newborn. The parents objected and wanted a second opinion from a separate source.

Somewhere short of having a piece of rebar sticking out of my chest, I want to have a second opinion before you cut my chest open. Or any other part of me for that matter.

If they hadn't taken the child to another hospital, I could have agreed to a point. That they left AMA to another hospital means that they were concerned.

That CPS and LEO did it regardless of the facts means it is a tyrannical attitude that we know better than you.

I agree that CPS overstepped in taking the child. However, I work in a hospital. If you leave AMA there are forms to be filled out documenting such more than just a note typed into the patient's chart. If parents take children AMA the forms still need to be signed. If the parents take the children without signing the form and without notifying staff they are leaving (we try to get the form signed if we are told they are leaving) we have to notify the police and in turn CPS, who then look into possible child neglect or endangerment depending on the health concern. They are then supposed to find out what is going on. If the parents took the child to another hospital, that should have been the end of it, but for some reason they took the child away instead.

"If you leave AMA there are forms to be filled out documenting such more than just a note typed into the patient's chart."

And this is what you will find at YOUR clinic under the Affordable Health Care Act:
Don't fill the form out correctly, go to jail.
Fill the form out correctly, and wait to be treated.
You are not the patient - the form is. You are a commodity, a thing, identifiable only by forms.

If you leave AMA there are forms to be filled out documenting such more than just a note typed into the patient's chart. -- BunnyGirl at May 16, 2013 9:54 PM

And if I don't sign your paperwork I am doing something illegal?

Kiss My Ass!

Show me where in the U.S. Constitution that I walk out of a building other than a prison that I am a criminal.