Search Widens For Mom, Son Who Fled Chemo

(CBS/ AP)  A new arrest warrant has been issued today for the mother of a 13-year-old Minnesota boy who has cancer.

The new warrant includes a charge of deprivation of parental rights. An earlier warrant was based on a contempt of court charge. The new warrant gives authorities in other states the ability to detain Colleen Hauser if she and her son Daniel are found.

The search for Hauser who fled with her 13-year-old cancer-stricken son Daniel to escape court-ordered chemotherapy has turned to Southern California after authorities received a tip.

But the officials leading the search that continued Thursday acknowledged that Hauser and her son could already be in Mexico, possibly to seek treatment for his Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Authorities believe the mother and son fled Monday after a court-ordered X-ray showed the tumor in Daniel's chest was growing. Doctors have said the tumor will likely kill Daniel without conventional treatment, but Colleen Hauser favors the natural healing methods of an American Indian religious group known as the Nemenhah Band.

The boy's court-appointed lawyer, Philip Elbert, believes the family still has a chance to get their wish if they return.

Saying the judge in the case wants additional testimony, Elbert told CBS' The Early Show Thursday that Daniel will have a voice if he appears in court.

"Right now, nothing is final and Daniel needs to be heard," Elbert said.

Colleen Hauser's husband, the local sheriff and the Nemenhah Band's founder hoped the mother would return home with Daniel. But the pair proved they wouldn't be traced easily.

"I just wish we could get to Colleen and tell her to come in," Brown County Sheriff Rich Hoffmann said. "This is not going to go away. It's a court order." He said Hauser's husband was cooperating with investigators.

Colleen and Daniel Hauser were seen as recently as Tuesday morning in Southern California, and authorities said they believed the two were headed to Mexico. They would only say the pair's location was based on "reliable information."

Hodgkin's lymphoma is a highly curable form of cancer when treated with chemo and radiation. But the teen and his parents rejected chemo after a single treatment, with the boy's mother saying that putting toxic substances in the body violates the family's religious convictions.

Hauser said she had been treating the boy's cancer instead with herbal supplements, vitamins, ionized water and other natural alternatives — a regimen based mostly on information she found on the Internet.

The Hauser family had been ordered to appear before a judge Tuesday for a hearing to consider chemo. But mother and son failed to show and a warrant was issued for the mother's arrest.

Daniel's father, Anthony Hauser, said in an interview Wednesday at the family's farm near Sleepy Eye, a town of 3,500 people about 80 miles from Minneapolis, that his wife and son left without telling him their plans, and that he hadn't heard from them.

He said he hopes his wife is either getting their son treatment for his illness or will bring him home. "If he's being cared for, and it's going to help him, I think it's going to be a good thing," Anthony Hauser said.

James Olson, the attorney representing social service authorities in Minnesota, originally asked the judge to cite the father for contempt of court, but later backed off and said he believed Hauser didn't know the whereabouts of his wife and son.

An alert issued to police departments around the country said mother and son might be traveling with a California lawyer named Susan Daya. Daya didn't return telephone messages Wednesday.

The alert said they might also be with a Massachusetts man named Billy Best, who as a teenager in 1994 ran away from home to escape chemotherapy for cancer similar to Daniel's. Best, who says he was cured by natural remedies, had appeared at a news conference in Minnesota recently to support the Hausers.

Best, in a phone interview, said he was in Boston and hadn't talked to the Hausers since they fled. He said he last saw the family May 9 when he was in Minnesota for court hearings.

"I just want to help this kid. I just feel like people are ganging up on him and it's not fair," Best said. "He's a nice kid, the family's nice, and they love him, and they want him to live."

The Nemenhah Band, based in Weaubleau, Mo., advocates healing methods tied to American Indian practices. The Hausers are not American Indian.

Phillip Cloudpiler Landis founded Nemenhah about a decade ago and calls himself its principal medicine chief. He said it was prompted by his own bout with cancer, which he claims to have cured through diet, visits to a sweat lodge and other natural remedies.

Landis served several months in prison in Idaho for fraud tied to the sale of natural remedies. Nemenhah members are asked to pay $250 to join and an annual $100 fee.

On Wednesday, Landis renewed his hope that Colleen Hauser return to Minnesota with her son. "Running away when there is a court order is not the way to handle it. Go home. That's the official position of the church. Go home Colleen," he said.

[estai777]

A good friend of mine is dying now because she listened to the "Doctor Gods!" She admits she made the wrong decision.

[estai777]

The government should not force people to get treatment they do not want. We need to support those who chose alternative treatments. Many people have been cured through natural means. The medical industry and Big Pharma have way too much power and have no business interfering in healing.

[6591Hou]

Did chemotherapy help my mother when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer.... Yes. Did it help when they discovered it had spread to her brain... Yes. But when they discovered that it spread to her liver, stomach, and neck it started to have negative effects. Maybe if you actually spoke with an oncologist and educated yourself on the effects of chemotherapy you wouldn't be "tempted to call bs". Posted by Rochna13
=================================
No offense intended but exactly why would you think chemotherapy caused your mother's death more than the fact that it apparently spread throughout her entire body? Methotrexate causes sores in the mouth and other areas, but Lucovorin is what they give you to counter the bad side effects, I know because my daughter takes it. I wish peace to you and your family but blaming chemotherapy for someone losing a fight against cancer is sort of like having someone take antibiotics because of a tremendous infection which ends up being fatal - but blaming the antibiotics and not the infection. From what you've said your mother fought for as long as she could.

[orinfagel]

And now mom is on the run and likely not able to find any alternative treatment either due to being on the lam. So, on both accounts, she is not allowing either treatment. Ergo, she is neglecting the 13 year old boy whichever side you pick. Very simple; she's an irresponsible parent.

[orinfagel]

And now mom is on the run and likely not able to find any alternative treatment either due to being on the lam. So, on both accounts, she is not allowing either treatment. Ergo, she is neglecting the 13 year old boy whichever side you pick. Very simple; she's an irresponsible parent.

[Rochna13]

I lost my mother to cancer three years ago. She had been fighting it for five years. Her cancer had come back three different times. The third time it came back it had spread everywhere and doctor's gave her months to live. She decided to use alternative treatments along with the chemotherapy. She did exactly what this mother wants her son to do. She was taking vitamins, herbs, drinking purified water, and eating organic foods all while she was undergoing chemotherapy. The doctor's were amazed at the results. Some of the organs that were once affected were declared cancer free. Her oncologist even wanted her to speak to other doctor's about having their patients get on the same diet. He knew that there were other reasons behind these results than just the chemotherapy. My mother survived two years after her diagnosis....Exceeding the expectations of most of her doctors. My mother did not die from cancer though.... She died from chemotherapy. The doctor's kept trying all kinds of different chemotherapies on her. The one gave her ulcers all through her mouth and down her throat to the point where she could not eat and lost an extreme amount of weight. Then the last chemotherapy they tried on her was the kiss of death. It put large holes in her lungs causing them to collapse.

The point of my story is that I often wonder if my mother would still be here is she would have chosen to just use the alternative treatments. She was doing so well until they used her as some kind of a guinea pig for chemotherapy. I think everyone needs to educate themselves before they pass judgement on the mother of this boy.

Posted by Rochna13 at 8:11 AM : May 21, 2009

Tempted to call bs on this.

by Mccarthyaw at 1:05 PM : May 21, 2009

Mccarthyaw: I tried to share a very painful experience that I had in my life in order to educate people about trying alternative treatments and then see an ignorant comment like this. I hope that you never have to see a loved one go through the pain my mother went through from chemotherapy. Did chemotherapy help my mother when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer.... Yes. Did it help when they discovered it had spread to her brain... Yes. But when they discovered that it spread to her liver, stomach, and neck it started to have negative effects. Maybe if you actually spoke with an oncologist and educated yourself on the effects of chemotherapy you wouldn't be "tempted to call bs". I could ellaborate even more if you still want to call bs.

[cs4466]

Sadly, there are many who do not honor or respect their fellow human beings. They put THEMSELVES on a pedestal and everyone else beneath them.

Posted by sshine at 10:23 PM : May 21, 2009

They usually call themselves Christians.

The mother should be jailed for attempted murder and the son's life should be saved - if he wants to get cancer again and die after he's 18 then he can go for it.

[sshine]

erasmus111, thank you for your comments. Though we differ in our opinions, I honor yours and hear what you are saying. Obviously we are seeing things through different 'eyes'. I have been following the story and in no way am I making light of responsibility. What I AM saying is that what someone may consider to be the most responsible and appropriate medical treatment for an individual, someone else may view as just the opposite. There is nothing wrong with a diversity of opinions or viewpoints. No 2 humans think the same, no 2 are physically the same, nor do they / or should they have to be medically treated the same either. It all depends on the physiology of the individual involved, among a host of other things.

Men and women of Science continue to discover and make headway into new frontiers in ways to deal with and heal cancer. They are discovering new options/new treatments; (be it with chemicals or be it with foods and vitamins) and there are new means of hope to those who may react poorly to traditional cancer treatments like chemo. At times there is no "right" answer, and at other times there is MORE than one "right" answer.

Being responsible is knowing all the options available, knowing the individual involved and how he/she reacts to certain medications or treatments, and knowing ALL the possible outcomes for treatments. Being responsible is also discussing the options with a multitude of people before making that decision. And lastly ,when making that informed decision, KNOWING that not everyone is going to agree with you, yet hoping they respect and honor your opinion, your point of view (even when it comes to your BELIEFS), and your "right" to make that choice. That's the American way. Sadly, there are many who do not honor or respect their fellow human beings. They put THEMSELVES on a pedestal and everyone else beneath them. Yet, according to the Consitution we are all created equal, with equal rights.

It's not against the law to chose alternative medical treatments. Warrants were uncalled for. This incident should have never reached the point to where a doctor and/or judge forces one medical treatment over another. This family should have never had this happen to them.

[hdc77494]

herbal supplements have been shown to help cancer cells grow, actually killing him faster. So if she keeps hiding him until it's too late to save him, can we charge her with murder and put her away? The kid isn't going to concent because he's as brainwashed as the mom. We see this over and over, some delusional parent lets their kid die rather than seek treatment. There was another story this week where a 10 year old died of diabeties. These parents should be in jail.

[PetaEatsKids]

Sshine I see you too are missing a chromosome, your lenghty comment was filled with so much rubbish. This is not a fight over Choice, but you failed to fully understand responsibility vrs choice. Parents do not have choices but responsibilites, you choose what schools they go to, you choose what people they can socialize with, But you have a resposibility to provide proper medical treatment to your children, you are responsible for what is better for them.

The problem and the reason why our legal system and most american are after this family is that they are making a choice and not following their responsibility. They are choosing to use alternative medicine and they are choosing to give him a smaller chance at survival. When parents confuse their choices with their resposibilties that is the good people at child protective services come in to assist parents that have made bad choices over their responsibilities.

"The parents can be charged with neglect, child abuse, or even manslaughter, making the parents (or mom) responsible/accountable for the outcome of the treatment the boy receives." This entire paraghaph you wrote makes no sence what so ever, while you think you have your facts right here are the numbers we are dealing with... If he uses alternative medicine he as a 5% survival Meaing he has a 95% chance that he will Die! While if he uses Chemo he has a 90% success and a 10% chance that he will Die! To answer your issue no the judge will not go to prison if he dies since he does in fact have a chance to die with both treatments. The key difference is that if he chooses herbal remides he has a 95% chance differance that he will Die!
[(H005)(0.95)][(C90)(0.10)]

Dont misunderstand me I personally use herbal medication for certain things and there are some success stories this is not common practice. The people that normally use herbal medication are the usually the lost causes that have a 0.05 success rate with chemo and radiation and herbal medication combined, but it is not used as the sole method of medication, especially not then the patient has a 90% success rate with chemo (those are very very good odds when it comes to cancer).

Im not sure if you completly read the source article or if you have been keeping up with the story at all, but these people are white, they are catholic, and they are claiming not to use chemo for religious beliefs simply becouse a convicted-felon magical-snake-potion conman Phillip Cloudpiler Landis medicine man "claims he cured his own cancer" and will only charge $250 to join and an annual $100 fee. That is a big risk of putting the life of their child on a convicted scammer who was conficted for similar practices! I myself you not put the life of my child on the line if I even had a suspicion that my highly trained and tenured doctor and personal friend had prior convictions with anything related to medicine!

I hate to sound baised but these people are retarded, somewhere along the line they lost their grasp of reality and are no longer qualifed to be a parent and therefor not quailifed to make proper choices. There mind is clouded by either too much moonshine or too many hits to the head. At this point it just seems they dont want to seem like they are wrong or quite frankly based on the photograph of the mother i can tell she is subborn and crazy as a mule! I am sorry that at this point they have brain washed the child into not accepting treatment, kids dont like shots. Im sorry but this is chemotherapy, it is not meant to be a pleasant expirence it was designed to cure cancer and that is what it does, everyone even people that dont have cancer know that you are in for a world of pain but life does go on and you eventually recover, and you live!