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Air Date: March 06, 2014
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: Mat Staver
Mat Staver is the founder, president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel and the director of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy.
Before getting to the main topic, Jim had Mat comment on four topics:
–Yesterday the Obama administration announced another 2 year delay to a provision in Obamacare that allows people to keep their health insurance.
–The IRS has issued a video clip that presents instructions to same-sex marriage partners telling them that if their marriage took place in a state or nation that recognizes same-sex marriage, they may claim ‘married filing jointly’ on their return.
–The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a comprehensive statement on religious garb and grooming in the workplace.
–The Dalai Lama delivered the opening prayer at the United States Senate encouraging prayer to Buddha and all other gods.
In January of 2013 Justina Pelletier (then 14 years old) developed flu-like symptoms and could not eat. She had been diagnosed by a doctor at Tufts Medical Center in Boston with a mitochondrial disease. At the advice of this same doctor she was taken to Boston’s Children’s Hospital because Justina’s gastroenterologist had moved to that hospital.
After taking her to BCH she was seen, not by her gastro doctor, but by a doctor who had been out of medical school for 7 months. He did not consult the treating physicians, did not look at other medical records and in the end, he disagreed with the diagnosis. He felt the problem was not physical but mental. A psychologist was brought in and it was determined that Justina had a somatoform disorder despite the fact that all possible physical conditions were not ruled out.
A new one-page plan-of-treatment was presented to Justina’s parents stating that the medical treatment she’d had before would be discontinued and a second opinion could not be sought. Instead of signing off on that document, her parents asked to discharge her so that she could be taken back to Tuft’s Medical Center. BCH responded by calling in the Department of Children and Families and they took jurisdiction of the case.
Find out where this case stands after 13 months when you review this vital edition of Crosstalk.
More Information
www.lc.org
www.libertycounsel.com
1-800-671-1776
#FreeJustina (Facebook)
Boston Children’s Hospital
800-355-7944
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families
617-748-2000 (Main Number)
617-573-1600 (Executive Office of Health and Human Services)
Interim Commissioner for the Department of Children and Families
617-748-2000
