Ashya King - found

[Pierre]

Missing Ashya King found in Spain http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29001388

Just watched the video of the father speaking, and he seems very cogent and calm.

I have some sympathy with his situation and I can understand his anger at the doctor.

Parents should be given some freedom to seek alternative treatment if available, I understand it is a balance.

But I believe this man is acting in the best interest of his son. He feels he's been fobbed off by the NHS and he's acted to save his son.

Most fathers would do the same.

[heero_yuy]

We also had the usual total over reaction of the medical authorities suggesting that if his support equipment was not immediately plugged in only at the original hospital that the lad would die. What utter tosh.

You get the same rubbish when an abandoned baby is fount "The mother is in need of urgent medical attention" Just utter twaddle designed to induce panic.

Why have they been arrested? They've committed no crime so who issued an arrest warrant and on what grounds?

[Qtx]

So this poor kid is now separated from his parents too. What a stupid situation.

[Ignitionnet]

They wanted to take him for a treatment that the NHS will offer in 2018. Hardly controversial.

Still great to see we have the police ready, willing and able to go to task on this and put forward the energy required. I guess it's only when the 'right' people endanger or abuse children on an industrial scale that it's ignored by the authorities.

Presumably Mr King failed to tick the right cultural boxes.

[richard s]

The father should have left a message for the NHS or somebody they knew handed a note to the police telling the authorities of the families intentions. There has been so much media scramble over this situation when I think that there are more important lead stories going on in the world that need to be highlighted.

I wish the little boy and the family every success.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by richard s

I wish the little boy and the family every success.

Well that's the bottom line isn't it?

A little boy is fighting for his life, and an NHS doctor's ego is bruised because the father wants a different opinion, so the police get involved with a European arrest warrant on the back of the complaint from the hospital for neglect, while it's obvious the child is far from neglected.

The fault here lies with the doctor, for some reason doctors believe they are beyond reproach, whereas they are as fallible and prone to mistakes and prejudice as much as any person

they should be questioned and challenged, often.

That doctor is more concerned about someone questioning his judgement than he is the little boy.

It's obvious that this could have been avoided with the correct dialogue between the parents and the hospital from the outset.

[Arthurgray50@blu]

TWO parents were speaking on Sky News, to say that there child was treated in the SAME hopsital. And that the treatment was excellant. Although there child died. They still said good things about them.

Also, a large problem is that the drug - l think it was Proton cost 90.000 pounds - but life is more important than money.

IF, they wanted to get a second opoin, why didn't they go private in the UK - instead of going abroad.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

TWO parents were speaking on Sky News, to say that there child was treated in the SAME hopsital. And that the treatment was excellant. Although there child died. They still said good things about them.

Well that's fine then. The nurses all smiled and the doctor had a lovely bedside manner................but my boy still died.

Hmmm, perhaps, they don't want their son to die........yep, pretty sure they don't

Also, a large problem is that the drug - l think it was Proton cost 90.000 pounds - but life is more important than money.

. Your point is then?

IF, they wanted to get a second opoin, why didn't they go private in the UK - instead of going abroad.

I don't know, maybe it has something to do with your second non- point?

I wonder why they were in Southern Spain when the father said he was looking at Proton Beam treatment in Prague?

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Hugh

I wonder why they were in Southern Spain when the father said he was looking at Proton Beam treatment in Prague?

Because he had a property in Spain that he was in the process of selling to fund the treatment.

That's according to him, in his video.

I wonder why he felt the need to take the child out of hospital whilst he sold the property - couldn't his wife and the other six kids stayed in the UK with the child?

Surely the child would get better post-operative medical treatment in a specialist Oncology unit, rather than a bedroom in an apartment/villa in Spain?

Originally Posted by Pierre

Well that's fine then. The nurses all smiled and the doctor had a lovely bedside manner................but my boy still died.

Hmmm, perhaps, they don't want their son to die........yep, pretty sure they don't

People die of cancer. It doesn't mean the Doctors and Nurses are incompetent.

[Pierre]

I don't know, I take your point.

Frustration probably plays a big part.

If you want to save your dying son, if you feel that the doctor/ hospital,don't share your urgency you may act impulsively. Does that make you wrong?

I doubt that father, would do anything to make his sons situation worse. I only base that assertion on a feeling.

---------- Post added at 22:24 ---------- Previous post was at 22:20 ----------

Originally Posted by Damien

People die of cancer. It doesn't mean the Doctors and Nurses are incompetent.

Did I say that?

It also doesn't mean that the right treatment was undertaken.

Treatment A - which doesn't work

Treatment B - which does work.

Both treatments can be delivered with great care and expertise. But if you are only offered treatment A, it doesn't matter how professional the care is.

Originally Posted by Pierre

Did I say that?

No you didn't say that but you were quite dismissive of the quote in which parents described the Doctors and Nurses as being good because 'the boy still died' and 'Hmmm, perhaps, they don't want their son to die........yep, pretty sure they don't'.

It also doesn't mean that the right treatment was undertaken.

It doesn't mean the wrong one was undertaken either.

Originally Posted by Pierre

Treatment A - which doesn't work

Treatment B - which does work.

Both treatments can be delivered with great care and expertise. But if you are only offered treatment A, it doesn't matter how professional the care is.

I am not a Doctor but I know that's not how cancer treatment works. There isn't a choice between Treatment A which doesn't work and Treatment B that does work. Aside from the more direct treatments, i.e cutting it all out before it spreads, then there is no cure for cancer.

People respond in different ways to different medications and what works for one person doesn't work for another. I also know that science cannot always pre-determinate which treatment will be best suited to any individual. That's what all the research into gene therapy and targeted treatments is doing.

Sometimes a right treatment would have saved someone but it was too late. Sometimes someone will die even if they got everything right. A Doctor can only really be said to have got it wrong if it was evident that another treatment would have been better when they administered a different one.

Obviously Doctors are not infallible and need oversight and reviews. However they will still hold more sway with the authorities when it comes to medical matters than non-medical people.

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Damien

It doesn't mean the wrong one was undertaken either.

Exactly, how an individual reacts to a certain type of treatment is........individual. But you have to be offered the treatment first.

I am not a Doctor

believe me you didn't have to qualify the statement. I've never thought you were .

A Doctor can only really be said to have got it wrong if it was evident that another treatment would have been better when they administered a different one.

my point is a doctor can be said to get it wrong if he fails to entertain another treatment that is available, on the NHS or otherwise, that may be more beneficial.