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Green Living Now News, Edition Twenty

1. Judge Forces Teen To Accept Conventional Treatment, Against His Will

This kind of story makes my blood boil.

Imagine if (cancel the thought) your child had cancer. The conventional doctors that you hired initially gave your child a round of chemotherapy. It made him very sick and feeling worse. Then the cancer returned. Your child, a 16 year old, researched and determined that he wanted to pursue a sugar free, organic diet with herbs under the care of an alternative practioner in Mexico. You, his parents, support your son's decision. One of the social workers in your state (not a trained physician) takes it upon themselves to ask a judge to require your child to continue with conventional treatment, against their will. Your son spends two days (11 hours of testimony) in juvenile court telling the judge that he does not want to go through chemotherapy again, hoping that the judge will put him/herself in this young man's shoes. Instead, the judge issues a temporary order finding you, his parents, neglectful for supporting his choice of treatment. Now you have to share custody of your ill son with the state's social services department, and you may lose custody completely. All this while he's struggling with cancer, and the everyday challenges of being a teenager.

I can only envision the stress that this young man and his family have been going through as a result of his cancer. To make matters worse, the state has forced him and his family to go to court and testify for his right to make an informed decision about his health care. The added stress of this experience cannot be good for him. And, if the social worker is successful and forces this young man to have chemo again and he dies, will that social worker, or that judge go to jail. No. So much for "Do No Harm".

Seems to me that most people would agree that chemotherapy, in and of itself, is made up of deadly drugs. The desired effect, of course, is to kill the cancer, not the patient. It certainly is not without risks. To be forced to undergo this dangerous treatment a second time, against one's will, is absolutely unacceptable to me. Just because this young man is 16, he is being forced to do something that he believes is not in his best interest. And, there are plenty of people who share his perspective about conventional cancer treatment. That said, for some people, conventional treatment saved their lives. It seems to me that we must follow what our inner voice tells us is the right path for us. So, if it's chemo and radiation for one person, and herbs, organic food, and/or other alternatives for someone else, that's fine. Whatever works for each of us according to our beliefs.

A woman I know had an aggressive melanoma (skin cancer) a number of years back. She opted for alternative treatments once the western doctors told her that they really couldn't do anything for her. They gave her a virtual death sentence, telling her she had a 10% chance of surviving. Rather than give up, she chose the Gerson therapy, an alternative treatment to cancer. Luckily, she survived and is doing extremely well 4 years later. She also found another dietary approach (after her cancer went into remission) that she's been following called, the Metabolic Typing Diet. She believes that her current diet and supplement regimen has improved her health and energy immeasurably. (I am not personally endorsing either diet plan, merely making you aware of them). Luckily, she was able to educate herself and choose the health treatments that were in line with her belief systems. Ultimately, I feel strongly that our beliefs about the treatment or preventative health care that we choose are intricately tied to the success and good health we experience. (There are other alternative treatments for cancer, those are just two that I've heard about.)

Back to this disturbing story about the 16 year old boy with cancer. Isn't it the parent's right and responsibility to make medical decisions for their child? According to the Ethics in Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine's website, "Parents have the responsibility and authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. This includes the right to refuse or discontinue treatments, even those that may be life-sustaining." They also believe that children should have the ability to participate in the discussions about their health care, and once they develop their capacity to make decisions, should be given that right. From what I've read about this case from the media (perhaps there's more to it that we aren't told), it appears that this young man is not being given voluntary consent. His human right of autonomy and self-determination is being taken away. How very sad.

The moral of this story for me is to continue to seek out alternative health care practioners in line with my beliefs, rather than get sucked up into the current health care system. That said, I know that there are plenty of good doctors and nurses practicing medicine. The conventional model does not work for everyone, and we should all take our health into our own hands.

Also, I've found that taking organic reishi mushroom extract boosts my immune system like nothing else (I've tried various vitamins and herbs, such as echinacea and goldenseal and vitamin C). I take the capsules on a regular basis, and the tincture when I feel something starting to come on (generally a lack of sleep over a period of a few days in the winter is when I'm most vulnerable). Naturally, a whole foods organic diet, exercise, sunshine (for vitamin D), restful sleep, play, and living in Vermont with relatively fresh air, all contribute to my good health.

7/31/06 Follow-up: I just found out today that another judge overruled the first one and permitted the teen to reject the conventional treatment and stay in the full custody of his parents. Phew!

2. Why You May Not Want To Eat Bagged Lettuce Anymore

Most of us have heard reports of the dreaded bacteria, E Coli, in undercooked meat, raw milk, and lately even in ice from fast food restaurants. Then, on April 30, 2006, NBC Dateline aired a segment about the 17 people from Minnesota that were sickened from E coli that came from-of all places-bags of pre-washed conventional lettuce.

How did the dangerous bacteria get on the lettuce? No one knows for sure. Some surmise that it was manure runoff from a nearby field, or perhaps flooding in the lettuce field. Could be dirty hands contaminating the lettuce somewhere along the trip from the field to the store. The bagged lettuce implicated came from Dole. Here's what Dole's President of Fresh Vegetables, Eric Schwartz, had to say about the washing process, "All salads go through a triple wash process. The first step is a fresh water rinse to remove any field debris, and the second and third step both involve a thorough chlorinated bath. This process makes a bagged salad much cleaner than the average consumer can by just rinsing it under tap water." Researchers at the Center for Food Safety in Griffin did some experiments with E coli or salmonella bacteria contaminated lettuce. Sadly, those chlorinated baths don't remove all the bacteria. Only a small amount was removed. That means the consumer gets bacteria and chlorine. Yuck.

In all fairness to Dole, they did settle right away with the people that were sickened by their bagged lettuce. Bill Marler, an attorney for the nine plaintiffs involved praised Dole and its insurance company for "stepping up and ultimately doing the right thing." Some companies fight these types of lawsuits for years, so I give Dole credit for settling.

E coli in the bagged lettuce kind of takes away that healthy feeling when eating a salad (though I rarely eat conventional salads anymore). I don't know for sure, but I'd be shocked if organic produce was washed in chlorinated water (unless there's chlorine in the spray water for the produce section in a natural food store). Geez, how do you clean away potential bacteria if chlorinated water doesn't even do it (and I'm not a fan of chlorine anyway-too toxic)? The FDA doesn't recommend washing produce with soap either. Clearly, preventing the contamination before the produce gets to your home is key. Maybe it's more of a problem with bagged produce as the lack of air and increased moisture probably increases the possibility for bacteria growth.

What are the symptoms of E coli poisoning?

The interesting thing I learned about E coli is that there is a good form and a bad form. The good form lives naturally in our large intestines. In return for taking up residence there and being nourished by our bodies, it secretes the vitamins K and B-complex. The mutant form is the one that makes us sick, can be lethal, and secretes a toxin into our intestines. Our bodies can lose water and salts, and bleeding and hemorrhaging can occur. The hemorrhaging is particularly dangerous for small children. Stomach cramps and diarrhea are common symptoms.

My advice is to eat heads of organic lettuce rather than the bagged stuff, though the chance of E-coli is quite low. (Just a note...as I understand it, in organic farming, any manure used on the crops/soil has to be composted for something like 90 days before the crop is picked versus conventional agriculture, which has no such requirement.)

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