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AIBU?

Father jailed for treating sick daughter

39 replies

HeeHiles · 30/01/2015 22:07

Father treats sick daughter with cannabis oil

Adam Koessler is the father of a 2-year-old, a little girl named Rumer Rose. Rumer has been diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma and was hospitalized for treatment in Australia

And Koessler, according to reports, was barred from seeing her

Koessler, an Australian, gave Rumer cannabis oil during her cancer treatment, a decision that reportedly led to his arrest earlier this month. The charges meant Koessler couldn’t see Rumer, though that changed this week, when officials allowed a hospital visit, according to updates on his Facebook page

Heartbreaking story Sad This dad is now in jail - going to check out their facebook page to see the latest but he says daughter was improving, although could have been the hospital treatment she was getting but the fact cannabis is illegal and he is supplying a child with what dosage?

AIBU though to think this isn't the time for him to be in jail? Surely he could under house arrest to spend time with his daughter?

OP posts:
ReallyTired · 30/01/2015 22:40

That is desperately sad. I can see both sides though. I feel that banning the dad from visiting his daughter is punishing the little girl. She needs her mummy and daddy while she is dying.

HeeHiles · 30/01/2015 23:27

Me too Really there is so much we don't know (or we are not told) about the benefits of cannabis, I read on the Facebook page about other families who had treated their sick children the same way who are not being pursued by the police - my worry is where is the dad getting this oil from? if he is buying it illegally who knows what strength or what it really is!

I really think we need more research but as other have said, the big drug companies will not like it!

OP posts:
hiddenhome · 31/01/2015 00:06

I don't think cannabis oil is illegal. Some people take it for health benefits.

Caronaim · 31/01/2015 00:31

It is quite dangerous for children, prevents brain development, etc.

confusedandemployed · 31/01/2015 00:39

Oh God, surely not the time to moralise. Please let that little girl be with her daddy. This makes me sob.

Caronaim · 31/01/2015 00:41

Nothing to do with "moralising" - he has put her in great danger, he is now faced with the consequences.

LurkingHusband · 31/01/2015 00:49

There is an awful lot of clandestine research going on into treating cancer with cannabis. It's not as simple as "puff a spliff and cure yourself". The work I know if involves extracting specific components into very particular preparations.

Here's a video a lot of people involved say you should watch.



So much for the bodily autonomy some folk were blathering on about in the "compulsory immunisation" thread Hmm
LurkingHusband · 31/01/2015 00:52

hiddenhome

I think you are thinking of hemp oil (because cannabis is hemp). Hemp oil contains no psychoactive compounds (you can buy it in Sainsburys Smile).

Cannabis oil is a concentrated preparation of the psychoactive resin produced by the plant, and is treated as a class-A drug under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. It's a thick brown resin.

MoominKoalaAndMiniMoom · 31/01/2015 01:14

He has to face the consequences, maybe, but what about his little girl? She needs her mummy and daddy with her right now :( she shouldn't be punished for his supposed 'mistakes'.

ApocalypseThen · 31/01/2015 08:21

This wasn't a mistake though. You can't administer cannabis oil to a toddler by mistake.

Altinkum · 31/01/2015 08:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Altinkum · 31/01/2015 08:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

dexter73 · 31/01/2015 08:28

From reading another article it seems that it was the mother that was blocking the father from coming to the hospital.

Nomama · 31/01/2015 09:16

Weird!

A man doses a small child with an illegal drug because he thinks he knows best. The medical profession think he is bonkers and dangerous to the child so they have him barred from contact...

... and MNers think it is mean to separate him from his daughter! Why? Oh! Because this Fearless Father started a fb campaign to make himself sound all fluffy and innocent, a real trail blazer that The Man has been cruel to!

Well, her little body was NOT alive again having consumed cannabis oil, she was numbed, physically and mentally by a very powerful, psychoactive compound.

Basically, the man is a dangerous prat and the police had little choice.

ApocalypseThen · 31/01/2015 09:29

Yeah, even the idea of accepting an illegal and unpredictable administered by a layman to a grievously ill child as treatment shows the insane lengths people will go to to preserve their sentimental image of this man.

EdSheeran · 31/01/2015 11:04

Not to be pedantic but my understanding is that this little girl is very poorly but not terminally ill. There is treatment for stage 4 neuroblastoma.

VikingVolva · 31/01/2015 11:09

"but what other great danger has the father put his terminally ill child in?"

Depending on what drug regime the poor child is on, the introduction of other pharmacologically active substances in unknown/uncontrolled doses could be fatal.

Is that a serious enough reason to intervene? Even if his aim was to end her life now, it would probably be kinder to achieve it by a mechanical means such as suffocation, than by drug cocktail.

Perhaps the severity of the sanction means he will choose not to use other drugs on this child at least whilst she is already gravely ill.

ReallyTired · 31/01/2015 11:11

I don't think that prognosis for stage 4 neuroblastoma is particularly great. I believe that the father did something speculatarly stupid, but he had the best of intentions. Maybe the strain of having such an ill child is taking its toll.

Maybe its worth considering what the little girl wants. She probably still wants her daddy inspite of being a prat. I would favour him being allowed heavily supervised contact with his daughter.

Nomama · 31/01/2015 14:42

And now she has been properly diagnosed with Stage 3... slightly better prognosis to which mum is quoted as saying it is great the chemotherapy is working.

Way to go dad. I would wonder if his having dosed his 2 year old child with cannabis oil may have delayed an accurate diagnosis...

... and he does now have contact. Probably supervised!

mrssmith79 · 31/01/2015 14:52

Heartbreaking but the law exists for a reason. I honestly wish that all those who think cannabis is harmless could spend a few hours in the shoes of someone suffering from drug induced psychosis. In my line of work I've seen it ruin a LOT of young adult lives. Permanently.

Dutch1e · 31/01/2015 16:14

The cannabis oil used in cancer treatment doesn't contain any THC. That's the stuff that makes you high.

Anecdotally though, it is excellent for pain relief, lighter mood, better sleep, and increasing appetite.

Really, that's just anecdotal and may be attributable to the placebo effect. Still, the most interesting 'anecdote' I've gathered came from the grown sons of an elderly woman with terminal cancer who came to the Netherlands. The guys were travelling with their mum as part of a Goodbye World Tour. They slipped her daily doses of cannabis oil out of a desperate need to try to make her more comfortable. Judge them if you must - I don't.

LurkingHusband · 31/01/2015 16:23

mrssmith79

I wish you could spend a few hours with an MS sufferer who has tried every form of pain relief - including morphine - but is still screaming in agony, and then see the almost magical relief a puff or two of cannabis brings. (Fascinatingly it's not enough to get you high, so there's something interesting going on).

If insulin got you high, then diabetics would die.

Here's a tiny idea what it's like. It's something I came across when I first met MrsLH. Her comments ? "I guess they had to tone it down for an advert".

All and any drugs can be misused or abused. In fact all any anything can be misused/abused. So why is it always the innocent who suffer.

Sativex is not available through our PCT, by the way.

Father jailed for treating sick daughter
Nomama · 31/01/2015 16:26

His daughter is 2...

Cannabis resin is slowly becoming modified to be safe and effective. It should soon be legalised and controlled.

His actions were illegal... and they did not have an accurate diagnosis at he time. I still wonder if his actions made it harder to get a proper diagnosis....

aprilanne · 31/01/2015 16:39

sorry but if she was my child .he would not be within 20 feet of her again .its not a shame if he never sees her again .he could have made things a lot worse .god what a muppet .

mrssmith79 · 31/01/2015 17:56

Lurkinghusband I'm sure you'll agree that we're all entitled to our own opinions and values but speaking as a registered psychiatric nurse I've seen my own share of devastated lives throughout my practice. I've spent time with sufferers of painful, chronic and debilitating physical illnesses. Deeply depressed and actively suicidal souls in so much pain they would prefer not to live. As well as this though, I also witness the damage that 'a few puffs' can do on a daily basis and it is for that reason I will never advocate unlicensed and illegal drugs of any kind.

I do not need a tiny idea. As much as I empathise with those who live with these condition on a daily basis, yourself and your partner included, I cannot change my views. I'd never impart them on a patient, or deem worthy of judging them, but I am entitled to them nonetheless.

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