Sheriff: Boy who fled chemo returns to Minnesota

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This May 20, 2009 photo shows Anthony Hauser in Sleepy Eye, Minn., talking about his thirteen-year-old son, Daniel, and wife, Colleen, who are being sought by authorities after they failed to show up for a court appearance. The search for the Minnesota mother who fled with her 13-year-old cancer-stricken son to escape court-ordered chemotherapy has turned to Southern California after authorities received a tip. But the officials leading the search that continued Thursday acknowledged that Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, could already be in Mexico, possibly to seek treatment for his Hodgkin's lymphoma. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Jim Gehrz)

(AP) -- A sheriff's office in Minnesota says a 13-year-old cancer patient and his mother who fled the state to avoid chemotherapy have returned.

The Brown County sheriff's office did not provide any details Monday but said a news conference would be held later in the day at the county seat of New Ulm.

Daniel Hauser and his mother, Colleen, had been due to appear in court last Tuesday for a hearing that could have resulted in a judge ordering chemotherapy to treat Daniel for Hodgkin's lymphoma. They missed the court appearance, and the search for them had focused on southern California and Mexico.

Doctors say Daniel has a cancerous tumor growing in his chest that's likely to kill him without chemotherapy, but the Hausers prefer natural healing methods inspired by American Indian traditions.

The American Cancer Society estimates there are 35 to 50 clinics in Mexican border towns that attract cancer patients looking for alternatives to traditional U.S. treatment methods.

An FBI affidavit alleges Colleen Hauser fled to avoid being prosecuted on two state counts of depriving another of custodial or parental rights. Brown County family services has been granted custody of Daniel to get him to a pediatric oncologist.

Last Thursday, Anthony Hauser appeared before reporters asking his wife to come home. "If you're out there, please bring Danny home so we can decide as a family what Danny's treatment should be," he said.

At a news conference Thursday, Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann vowed to arrange a safe return for Colleen Hauser without an enforcement action if she shows "a good faith effort to come back."

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• E_L_Earnhardt - May 25, 2009
  • Rank: 3 / 5 (4)
  I am with the mother! The only thing sure about today's chemotherapy is "It makes you sick and costs a lot of money, and likely makes your hair fall out!" Survival with or without chemo is a matter of chance! (or surgery,or cyroablation)!
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• JCSamuelson - May 26, 2009
  • Rank: not rated yet
  @ Earnhardt,
  
  Are you daft? Hope you treat yourself and your loved ones better than that, because even though treatment results may vary by individual, I'd call an 85% - 90% chance of survival with treatment (i.e., chemo, etc.) pretty good odds.
  
  Survival rates have increased over 60% due to improved treatment options since the 1970s, so you can't tell me that his chances are equal with or without treatment. Refusing treatment is virtually equivalent to signing his death warrant.
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• THEY - May 26, 2009
  • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
  As I said in an earlier article, I know of a boy that the family decided to use "essiac tea" after chemo had failed to rid him of cancer. it was their last hope. It worked. I can't see any reason why they can't try their own methods first, but if it doesn't work, and the boy wants to live, THEN AT THAT TIME the courts should intervene. Sometimes essiac and other methods work, sometimes it doesn't. Chemo DOES save lives from cancer, but there IS a price to pay. That boy tried it once, and made the decision that it wasn't worth continuing. But if their native methods don't work, who is to say he won't choose to live, and try cancer again? let him choose!
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