CANADA HUGHES BLOOD SUIT GOES TO COURT

DannyHaszard

Dad given OK to sue over death
Calgary Sun, Canada - 19 minutes ago
A judge's ruling has cleared the way for a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a teenaged Jehovah's Witness who lost her fight with leukemia. ...

Mon, February 27, 2006

Dad given OK to sue over death
By NADIA MOHARIB , CALGARY SUN A judge's ruling has cleared the way for a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of a teenaged Jehovah's Witness who lost her fight with leukemia. The claim seeking $800,000 in damages was filed by Lawrence Hughes, father of the late Bethany Hughes, in August 2004. Bethany, 17, succumbed to leukemia on Sept. 5, 2002, after a highly publicized fight against blood transfusions which she said violated her religious teachings. The civil suit was stalled after defendants sought to have the courts throw out the claim. Now, however, a ruling by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Patricia Rowbotham on Friday means a scaled-down version of the claim by Hughes, acting as administrator of Bethany's estate, can continue against the Cross Cancer Institute, Alberta Cancer Board, doctors A. Robert Turner and Andrew Belch, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada and Watch Tower lawyers Shane Brady and David Gnam. The judge ruled Hughes could not seek compensation for himself, but can sue on his daughter's behalf. The lawyers would have to be found liable before the Watch Tower Society could potentially be held accountable, said lawyer Vaughn Marshall, who filed the original suit. The statement of claim, as referred to by Rowbotham, alleges the Watch Tower lawyers -- members of the Jehovah's Witness faith who were acting on behalf of Bethany and her mother Arliss -- were in a conflict of interest. The judge also wrote in outlining the claims that because of their own beliefs, they were not in a position to advise either in an objective, fully informed manner that would enable Bethany to make a free, informed decision on whether to choose to have blood transfusions. Bethany's mother is no longer named in the suit . A statement of defence to the unproven allegations has yet to be filed in court. [email protected] reporter this article http://www.calgarysun.com/contactus.shtml Newspaper contacts

Clam

Thanks Daniel. Very interesting.

DannyHaszard

RICH KEYWORD SEARCH this CASE dig in

Will Power

This is important
bttt

ignored_one

Could the 'big news' be used in this case?

TooOpinionated

I was wondering the same thing.

RunningMan

Well, this is a unique and promising new angle. I never considered the possibility of conflict of interest on the part of the lawyers. Normal lawyers would recuse themselves if they were in a position where they were personally involved with an organization that in court - but, the Watchtower does exactly the opposite. They send in the biased troops at the drop of a hat. Go, Lawrence!

kid-A

Danny,

On saturday, the Toronto Star, which is a major newspaper read across Canada, ran an entire page devoted to the blood article. At the top, was a huge picture of Hughes looking very distraught with a caption describing his upcoming lawsuit. I believe they also printed a picture of the girl in her hospital bed prior to her death. It was an extremely powerful human interest piece and was presented in a way that really put the watchtower policies under scrutiny, especially in the context of this upcoming case. This case will have huge ramifications for the WTBS. This appeared in the Saturday Toronto Star, Feb 25.

Lilycurly

I've heard that on the News Radio all day!! And this is the kind of very popular radio that constantly repeats the news all day long, so probably everyone in Canada will have heard it before tonight.

It's so very sad for the people it has happened too, but hopefully, it might open some eyes.

Elsewhere

On saturday, the Toronto Star, which is a major newspaper read across Canada, ran an entire page devoted to the blood article. At the top, was a huge picture of Hughes looking very distraught with a caption describing his upcoming lawsuit. I believe they also printed a picture of the girl in her hospital bed prior to her death. It was an extremely powerful human interest piece and was presented in a way that really put the watchtower policies under scrutiny, especially in the context of this upcoming case. This case will have huge ramifications for the WTBS. This appeared in the Saturday Toronto Star, Feb 25.

Would it be possible for you to scan that article? I'd be more than happy to host it for you so everyone can see it.

CANADA HUGHES BLOOD SUIT GOES TO COURT

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