Dear Lawrence,
I did a google search on your daughter as I have not heard of your story in Australia.
I'd like to support you in your fight against the org, if you set up the paypal account that would be the best way for me to send a donation.
I NEED YOUR HELP WITH LAWSUIT AGAINST THE WATCHTOWER
by SHUNNED FATHER 58 Replies latest jw friends
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hallelujah
I started a law course a few years ago and fought a death's in custody case as a McKenzie's friend in the Northern Territory Supreme Court, the judge didn't give a verdict because it was the prisoner's words against the guards, but you can do it yourself. I'd be interested to see a rundown on the case.
We had to appeal against an interlocutory decision to obtain an exhumation in another State and won that appeal without a lawyer. So don't be too frightened. In this day and age all of the information is available. I'm not saying that a lawyer is not important, just don't be intimidated by an appeal on a point of law. You just have to focus on those points of law. In my experience an appeal is easier because you can put everything down in writing first.
Dan
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hubert
bttt
This is our chance to help Lawrence win.
We will all benefit from this case, either way.....bad publicity for the Watchtower, and/or massive law suits from a precedent.
Hubert
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Oroborus21
Greetings,
I was wondering about a few things. According to what I read online, Bethany was under the supervision of her doctors and even received 38 blood transfusions against her will fpr a good deal of her battle with Leukemia.
I thought the use of arsenic was strange but then in googling it, it turns out that the use of arsenic has shown promise in treatment. (just one citation)
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9811/07/arsenic.leukemia/
According to another story, Bethany's non-JW lawyer, David Day, investigated whether she was being influenced by JWs or anyone else and concluded that she was making her own medical decisions, as did the court.
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/735-.html
It is unfortunate that her case may not move forward as it might help resolve some issues regarding a patient's right to choose their own treatment in Canada.
Coming back to Mr. Hughes lawsuit, I was wondering how the WTS influenced the medical decisions or choice of treatment if Bethany was essentially under court supervision and under the care of her physicians? I have a high esteem for medical professionals and I harbor doubts that they would allow their professional judgment to be swayed by the WTS or Jehovah's Witnesses (which they probably know to have a questionable if not moronic position on blood). If thus her doctors prescribed the arsenic treatment it would seem reasonable that they must have been acting under their own judgment. I am curious to know what evidence Mr. Hughes has to support his claims? Also is the complaint posted online anywhere?
I am sure we all follow this case, Mr. Hughes (and also the other case, Bethany's, if it moves forward at all), with great interest.
-Eduardo
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hubert
bttt for the morning people.
Hubert
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outnfree
Careful, Eduardo!
I thought the use of arsenic was strange but then in googling it, it turns out that the use of arsenic has shown promise in treatment. (just one citation)
If I'm not mistaken, Bethany did not have APL which is a rare form of Leukemia from which my mother suffered. APL is a sub-category of AML - acute myeolytic leukemia.
The above-cited article states (highlights mine) :
"We confirmed the Chinese results that there's very high incidence of complete clinical remissions in patients who are treated with the use of low doses of arsenic trioxide with this type of leukemia," said Warrell.
Although there are very few side effects associated with the treatment, experts say caution is warranted because in higher doses, arsenic can be deadly.
"There have been reports of toxic neuro effects, kidney effects and we're going to have to be careful as we increase the doses in clinical trials," said Dr. Robert Gallagher of the Montefiore Medical Center, who wrote an accompanying editorial to the study published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering researchers are expected to ask the Food and Drug Administration next year to approve the use of arsenic trioxide as a treatment for APL.
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This means any studies thus far have been very limited, that in the US at least, arsenic trioxide has NOT been approved for use in treatment of APL by the government. I suppose it would bear investigating if it has been so in Canada, but Lawrence seems to have conferred with Canadian MD's who are unsupportive of its use.
If I've learned anything while battling my own cancer, it's to be wary of press reports on studies because journalists try to distill the rather complex information down into pro or con semi-sensational bites for the generally uninformed public. Case in point: Herceptin the Breast Cancer wonder drug reported on (again!) a couple of months ago. Only less than 30% of all breast cancer patients have the kind (sub-category) of breast cancer that would be responsive to Herceptin, and while it is a godsend to those women, it is by no means a cure, which was the way it was being touted by the media.
Anyway, thanks for the bttt, Hubert.
Lawrence, I'm only able to do a tiny part, myself, this month, but may be able to help you more later on. Paypal would be most convenient for me, too.
Courage, my friend!
Brenda
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rebel8
her desease ( AML Leukemia)
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outnfree
In fairness, that article Eduardo linked to is dated November 1998.
Since then, Trisenox (brand name for arsenic trioxide) has been approved for use in treating acute promylecytic leukemia (APL) BUT it has ONLY been approved for treatment of APL.
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) Sells TRISENOX(R) to Cephalon, Inc. for $70 Million in Cash and Up to $100 Million in Potential Future Milestone Payments
- CTI Refocuses Infrastructure on Its Late-Stage Pipeline
- XYOTAX(TM) and Pixantrone
- Move Cuts Expenses and Strengthens Balance SheetSEATTLE, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CTI Technologies, Inc. (CTIT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) (Nasdaq: CTIC; Nuovo Mercato) announced that it has agreed to sell the TRISENOX brand to Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH - News). Under the terms of the agreement, Cephalon will pay to CTI and its affiliates an aggregate of approximately $70 million for TRISENOX and certain proteasome assets, subject to a working capital adjustment. In addition, CTI may receive in the future up to an additional $100 million in cash if certain sales and regulatory milestones are achieved.
The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions, including Hart- Scott-Rodino clearance. Under the terms of its existing financing agreement for TRISENOX, CTI is required to use a portion of the proceeds from the sale to repay PharmaBio Development. CTI expects the gross up front proceeds from the transaction, prior to closing costs, will be approximately $30 million after repayment of the PharmaBio agreement. CTI expects the transaction to close during the third quarter.
Under the terms of the agreement, Cephalon will assume control of the worldwide marketing, sales, and development of TRISENOX. Cephalon will offer employment to CTI's U.S.-based commercial employees. The agreement also provides for CTI to transfer to Cephalon sole rights to its current joint proteasome inhibitor research collaboration, which is in preclinical development. Cephalon will assume all costs for advancing the proteasome inhibitor candidate and will pay CTI royalties on future worldwide product sales. CTI and Cephalon have also negotiated a transitional services agreement to support the successful transfer of TRISENOX and the proteasome inhibitor program to Cephalon, during which time Cephalon will reimburse CTI for services related to the transition."TRISENOX is an effective therapy for certain hematologic malignancies and Cephalon has the expertise and resources necessary to maximize its value. This agreement allows the Company to focus its resources on taking XYOTAX through to its NDA filing and advancing pixantrone through its phase III program," stated James A. Bianco, M.D., President and CEO of CTI. "The size of the solid tumor market is more attractive for us and, coupled with the XYOTAX product profile demonstrated in its phase III clinical trials, we believe focusing on bringing XYOTAX to market will have the highest return on investment for our shareholders and is consistent with our long-term strategy in oncology."
TRISENOX (arsenic trioxide), which generated worldwide sales revenues of $26.6 million in 2004, was approved in the United States in 2000 and in Europe in 2002 for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a life-threatening hematologic cancer. In clinical trials, TRISENOX has been shown to provide high complete response rates (70-75%) and a high molecular remission rate (82%) in patients with relapsed disease, while offering a unique non-chemotherapy side-effect profile. CTI acquired worldwide rights to TRISENOX when it acquired PolaRx in 2000.
As a result of the agreement with Cephalon and an internal reorganization, CTI's headcount will be reduced by approximately 130 in the United States, which is expected to reduce its operating expenses, as the Company focuses its resources and efforts on the development of XYOTAX and pixantrone. CTI expects to pay $1.4 million in the third quarter of 2005 as a result of the workforce reductions. Steve Aselage, Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Operations, will be assisting with the TRISENOX transition before leaving CTI at the end of June.
"We appreciate the significant advancements made in our commercial capabilities under Steve's leadership as well as the efforts of the TRISENOX team," Bianco noted. "We believe the steps announced today place CTI in the financial position to continue the development of our product pipeline and to advance XYOTAX toward commercialization."
About TRISENOX®
TRISENOX® (arsenic trioxide) is marketed by CTI. TRISENOX was approved for marketing in 2000 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a rare, life-threatening cancer of the blood. TRISENOX was granted marketing authorization from the European Commission in March 2002. APL, one of eight subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), represents 10-15 percent of the more than 20,000 patients diagnosed with AML each year. TRISENOX is currently being studied in more than 40 clinical and investigator-sponsored trials in a variety of cancers.
U.S. marketing approval for TRISENOX was granted based on results from a U.S. multicenter study in which 40 relapsed APL patients were treated with TRISENOX 0.15 mg/kg until bone marrow remission or a maximum of 60 days. Thirty-four patients (85 percent) achieved complete remission. When the results for these 40 patients were combined with those for the 12 patients in a pilot trial, an overall response rate of 87 percent was observed.
WARNING: TRISENOX should be administered under the supervision of a physician who is experienced in the management of patients with acute leukemia. Some patients with APL treated with TRISENOX have experienced APL differentiation syndrome -- with symptoms similar to retinoic acid-acute promyelocytic leukemia (RA-APL) syndrome. Arsenic trioxide can cause QT prolongation (which can lead to torsade de pointes) and complete atrioventricular block.
The most common adverse events associated with TRISENOX have been generally manageable, reversible and usually did not require interruption of therapy. These have included hypokalemia, hypermagnesemia, hyperglycemia and thrombocytopenia as reported in 13 percent of the patients (n=40). Abdominal pain, dyspnea, hypoxia, bone pain and neutropenia were reported in 10 percent of these patients, while arthralgia, febrile neutropenia and disseminated intravascular coagulation were reported in eight percent of patients.
http://www.leukemia-web.org/aml-leukemia-news/leukemia-cancer-news-0081.htm (Second article on the cited page.)
Anyway, as rebel8 pointed out, Bethany's diagnosis was AML. And she was a child - 16. Stats on AML treatment responses are generally made for the 18-60 year old and then 60+ year old patients. So even experimental use of Trisenox on a person younger than 18 with AML would have been very risky, one would think.
Here is a wonderful resource page on AML which pretty much explains AML and its treatments and prognoses, and touches on APL treatment as well:
http://www.emedicine.com/MED/topic34.htm
And from that page:
Drug Name Arsenic trioxide (Trisenox) -- Used in patients with relapsed APL. The mechanism of action of Trisenox is not completely understood. Arsenic trioxide causes morphological changes and DNA fragmentation characteristic of apoptosis in NB4 human promyelocytic leukemia cells in vitro. Arsenic trioxide also causes damage or degradation of the fusion protein PML-RAR alpha. Adult Dose Induction: 0.15 mg/kg/d IV until bone marrow remission occurs; maximum induction is 60 doses Consolidation: 0.15 mg/kg/d IV starting 3-6 wk after completion of induction therapy; maximum consolidation is 25 doses over 5 wk Pediatric Dose Not established Contraindications Documented hypersensitivity Interactions Electrolyte abnormalities may occur if used concomitantly with diuretics or amphotericin B; concurrent use with QTc-prolonging agents (type Ia and type II antiarrhythmic agents, cisapride, thioridazine, selected quinolones) may increase risk of potentially fatal arrhythmias Pregnancy D - Unsafe in pregnancy Precautions Correct electrolyte abnormalities prior to treatment and monitor potassium and magnesium levels during therapy; may prolong QT interval; discontinue therapy and hospitalize patient if QTc >500 ms or if syncope or irregular heartbeats develop during therapy; may lead to torsade de pointes or complete AV block (risk factors include congestive heart failure, history of torsade de pointes, preexisting QT interval prolongation, use of potassium-wasting diuretics, conditions that cause hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia) So even if Bethany had the APL form of AML, pediatric use of Trisenox would have been controversial.
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Will Power
Eduardo made a point.... about how a non-jw lawyer found Bethany mature enough to make her own decisions.
A non-JW wouldn't know about the indoctrination tactics of this dangerous high control group.
on the surface all JWs seem of sound mind, intelligent, logical etc. (as most all people do)
however the control the WT possesses is so invasive, the cogitive dissonance can reduce the
strongest example of character to a sad "loyalty to the organization is more important than the truth"
even to their death.
It starts with being afraid to eat a Hot Cross Bun, hit a piniata, express genuine love, care for a loved one .......
WT is cruel to the max - guilty of depraved indifference - thinking only of themselves. -
Scatteredsheep
Mr. Hughes,
Would it be possible to represent yourself with Kerry Louderback-Wood advising you?
