NEW ULM, Minn. — A Minnesota judge issued an arrest warrant Tuesday afternoon for the mother of a 13-year-old boy who is resisting chemotherapy for cancer after she and her son failed to show up at a court hearing.
Daniel Hauser was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in January and received his only chemotherapy and radiation treatment that month. He did not return for a second treatment in February and the family began substituting alternative care, including herbs and vitamins.
His doctors notified child-protection officials, prompting Brown County Attorney James Olson to file a child-neglect petition.
Anthony Hauser, the father of Daniel Hauser, testified that he doesn't know the whereabouts of his son and his wife, Colleen.
Anthony Hauser said he last spoke to his wife at about 4 p.m. Monday as he milked cows at the family's farm in Sleepy Eye, Minn. He said his wife told him she was going to leave and "That's all you need to know."
Tumor grows back
Earlier in the afternoon, the boy's family physician, Dr. James Joyce, said that he took an X-ray of Daniel Monday, which showed that his tumor had grown back to its original size after responding well to treatment in January.
Joyce said he gave Colleen Hauser the names of three oncologists, but she declined to take them. He said that another woman accompanying Daniel and his mother told him they had to leave for another appointment. She was identified in court as California attorney Susan Daya.
A medical report filed with the court noted a "significant worsening" of the boy's tumor since May 13. The doctor said the boy complained of severe pain around a "port" that was placed in his chest in January to administer cancer-fighting drugs, pain probably caused by the tumor pushing at the port.
County Attorney James Olson said the judge's order will allow officers to arrest Colleen Hauser in any state. "We don't know where she is, and we're all pretty concerned about Daniel and getting him into treatment." He said the mother will be jailed when arrested, but "she can get out by producing Daniel."
On Friday, Judge John Rodenberg ordered the parents to take the boy for a chest X-ray to see how his Hodgkin's lymphoma was progressing, and to choose an oncologist for probable treatment.
Testimony at hearing
Colleen Hauser testified at the May 8 hearing that use of chemotherapy, which they regard as a potentially fatal poison, violates the family's religious beliefs. She said they prefer natural remedies such as herbs and vitamins that they began after Daniel's only chemotherapy treatment in January, shortly after he was diagnosed.
Daniel's doctors testified during an hearing May 8 that with chemotherapy and perhaps radiation, his chance of survival was 80 to 95 percent; without it he likely would die within 5 years.
In addition to issuing an arrest warrant today for Colleen Hauser, Rodenberg ordered that Daniel be turned over to Brown County authorities and be placed in foster care.
Once that happens, he ruled, Daniel's condition must be immediately evaluated by a pediatric oncologist.
A court-appointed attorney for the boy had recommended that custody of the boy be transferred to Brown County.
Rodenberg noted that all five doctors who had examined the boy agreed on the recommended course of treatment.
