Ruling expected Friday in boy's chemo case

Hauser family
Danny Hauser is 13 years old. He says he feels better than ever using alternative medicine. He says he would refuse chemotherapy.
MPR Photo/Sea Stachura

The Sleepy Eye family awaiting word on whether a judge will let their 13-year-old son refuse chemotherapy treatment for cancer say they're a normal family who just want their beliefs respected.

Judge John Rodenberg is expected to rule Friday on whether Brown County can force Daniel Hauser to undergo five chemotherapy treatments that doctors say are his best chance to survive Hodgkin's lymphoma. They say without it there's a 95 percent chance he'll die.

The Hausers are Roman Catholics, and members of a church called the Nemenhah band that advocates natural remedies. Mother Colleen Hauser says she has used natural remedies her whole life and has faith they can cure her son.

She says the family hasn't decided what to do if the judge rules against them.

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Information from: The Journal, http://www.nujournal.com/journal