The court has denied custody on the parents of a teen staying in the hospital psychiatric ward. The patient will remain in the state’s custody while the discussion about medical child abuse is not yet finalized.
Judge Joseph Johnston awarded custody of 15-year old Justina Pelletier to the state, maintaining that her parents should not be allowed to take her home. Justina is a patient at the Boston Children’s Hospital where she has been in comatose for 10 months. The teen is locked in a psychiatric ward while the legal battle about her future continues.
Linda and Lou Pelletier, Justina’s parents, went to the juvenile court of West Harford, Conn. to seek custody of their daughter. However, the judge did not award custody to them but he told the parents that he will appoint a new court investigator to take a fresh look at the case. The Judge also stated that he will explore the possibility of returning their daughter home only if authorities will closely monitor her condition.
Judge Johnston also maintained the gag order on all parties for the case and scheduled the next hearing for January 10, 2014.
The case gave rise to a new, controversial concept called “medical child abuse”. The term is used to describe parents who are suspected of interfering or withholding medical care for their children. Medical child abuse is also applied to cases wherein parents subject their children to unnecessary and harmful medical procedures.
Justina was rushed to the hospital February by her mother after she complained that her daughter was showing severe symptoms of mitochondrial disease. The disease is a rare genetic disorder which affects the energy production of the cell, leading to problems of the muscles, brain, heart, and gut.
However, the hospital determined that Justina was not sick due to the mitochondrial disease, but she could be suffering from lack of psychological care. The doctor from the Children’s hospital decided that the teen was suffering from somatoform disorder, in which the symptoms manifest but there is no real disease.
