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OHSU TO TAKE CHILD AWAY FROM MOTHER
OHSU threatens to take an autistic child from his mother: her crime
-
seeking medical treatment for her son.
Portland, Oregon
February 7, 2005
Imagine taking your child to the doctor, asking for a second
opinion, and
getting referred to Child Protective Service instead. This is what
happened to Kathryn Dunn. Instead of getting much needed medical
help for
her chronically ill son, Kathryn is in the fight of her life for her
child.
Kathryn Dunn has a seven year old child who was born with several
medical
issues. For the past four years she has been taking him to OHSU to
meet
these special medical needs because she was under the impression
that this
was the best medical facility in the state. OHSU has diagnosed him
with
Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Autism Spectrum Characteristics,
Mildly
Mentally Retarded, Disruptive Behavior Disorder, Laryngomalacia,
Behavioral
Feeding Disorder, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Allergic Rhinitis,
Hyperflexia,
Dyspraxia, Medically Fragile, the list goes on and on. Every time
he sees
a new doctor he is given a new set of diagnosis, or they just add on
to his
current list of diagnosis. Even the doctors he has seen cannot seem
to
agree on an exact diagnosis. She has done everything they advised
her to
do, whether she agreed with the treatment or not, ranging all the
way from
having a g-tube placed in his stomach to psychological treatments
for him
to even advocating for social security and special education with
the
public school system for him. She even postponed her plans to move
to
Eugene to marry because OHSU told her that she had to remain living
in the
Portland area for her son's ongoing medical care.
In the fall of 2004 Northwest Autism Foundation (NWAF) informed her
that
Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital/LADDERS Program
had
developed a new protocol for testing children with autism who have
Gastrointestinal problems. NWAF just donated approximately one
million
dollars to OHSU so they could start providing the same protocol of
tests
on children in the northwest. NWAF told Kathryn Dunn that her son
would be
a perfect candidate for these tests with his frequent throwing up,
diarrhea, constipation, self-limiting diet, as well as his autism
spectrum
characteristics, and that she should request OHSU to do these tests
on her
son. Taking NWAF's advice she asked OHSU if they would do the
gastrointestinal testing on her son at which time they stated that
they
would possibly refer Kristopher to the LADDER'S program.
Traditionally, Autism and disorders on the spectrum, such as ADD and
ADHD,
have been viewed as psychiatric, rather than biomedical issues.
Recently,
however, institutions like Harvard University, Massachusetts General
Hospital, and The University of Washington Medical Center, which are
part
of an organization known as the Autism Treatment Network (ATN), have
found
many of the children suffering from autistic spectrum disorders,
suffer
from inflamed bowels, and immune response disorders, and have been
treating
them, often with surprising results. Finding these conditions is
often the
first step towards recovery. Many autistic children show dramatic
improvement after being treated for disorders of the stomach and
intestines. Because the cause of the autistic enterocolitis is
controversial - some studies suggest it is related to mercury and
measles
from childhood vaccination - the medical profession itself is
divided over
how to treat this condition.
In June of last year, ATN sponsored a conference announcing that
OHSU would
be joining the ATN team, including Harvard, Massachusetts General.
Believing her son Kris qualified for this investigation, Kathryn
asked for
a procedure called endoscopy, to scope her son's intestine to
determine
whether Kris was suffering from these problems. Dr. Timothy Buie, of
Harvard University, has been instrumental in implementing this
procedure
and has identified a distinct condition called Autistic
Enterocolitis, a
severe inflammation of the bowel, which appears in the intestines of
many
autistic children.
On November 17, 2004 when Kathryn took her son in for a routine
check up.
One of OHSU's social workers attempted to trick/coerce her into
signing
over custody of her son to Children's Protective Services (DHS)
claiming
it would be a great way to force the state of Oregon to pay for
counseling". When Kathryn refused to do it she informed her that
OHSU
filed child abuse charges against her claiming she had Munchausen
syndrome
by proxy because Kathryn was trying to make them do
Gastro-Intestinal
testing on her son when there was nothing wrong with him. Munchausen
syndrome by proxy is a controversial disorder, lately in vogue, in
which a
mother will actually cause or keep a child sick, in order to receive
attention for herself. It is the worst accusation that can be made,
short
of murder, about a mother's relationship to her child. this social
worker
also threatened Kathryn in front of a witness, that if she tried to
fight
"them" on this that it would get really "ugly" and DHS would take
her child
away. At that time Ruth Patterson from DHS entered the room and
informed
Kathryn that the State of Oregon had taken custody of her son, but
they
were allowing Kris to reside in her home, for now.
On November 18, 2004 It was brought out during the temporary custody
trial
that NW Autism had offered to cover all expenses to send Kathryn's
son back
to Harvard to have the gastrointestinal testing and evaluation
performed.
Ruth Patterson flatly refused to allow Kristopher Dunn to undergo
any
further testing stating it was pure child abuse. then on December 8,
2004,
DHS had Kristopher Dunn tested alone with the therapist for an hour
and
forty-five minutes. Why is it abuse for the mother to have her child
tested, but not for DHS to have the child tested?
On December 8, 2004 Kathryn Dunn was tested and found not to have
Munchausen syndrome by proxy by a psychologist chosen by DHS, but
instead
of returning medical custody of Kristopher Dunn to his mother, DHS
tried to
get Kathryn to plead no contest to at least one of their charges
because
they wanted to stay involved in her life. when she refused to do
that they
dropped the Munchausen syndrome by proxy charges and have now
charged her
with failure to obtain proper medical treatment and failure to
provide
proper education for her son, as well as failure to admit that she
has an
undiagnosed mental problem, and no legal father. DHS claims they
will have
to charge her with something because OHSU will not let them drop the
charges against her.
This whole situation is very confusing. How can Kathryn Dunn be
originally
charged with trying to get too much medical attention and too many
educational rights for her child to now being charged with not
getting
enough medical or education for him? If she has been following the
medical
treatment that OHSU has been recommending and administering on her
son for
the past four years and because of their treatment she's been
charged with
child abuse, why hasn't OHSU been charged with the same?
January 5, 2005 there was a status conference in court on this
case.
Kathryn Dunn's attorney, George Mead, and Sonya Heinsch case manager
with
DHS both requested a postponement of the trial date to have a round
table
discussion with OHSU and other experts to try to come to a
resolution
without going to court. This meeting never occurred.
On January 28, 2005, George Mead tried to mediate the case with
Sonya
Heinsch. She would not agree with their requests stating DHS had to
remain
in control of the case, that Kathryn had to be under supervised long
term
psychiatric care, and that Kathryn would need to sign that she
agreed with
one of their charges against her.
At this point DHS and OHSU have had all their accusations disproved,
yet
they still insist on pursuing it by making up new charges. Kathryn
Dunn
takes these charges very personally. What could be more personal
than
someone trying to take your child from you? It is hard enough trying
to
raise a child with special needs, but it's even more difficult when
you are
being harassed by someone in the system. She feels that this is a
form of
pure harassment, and wants to know what someone in her position can
do when
facing such a devious, inconsistent and unfounded attacks by someone
empowered to take their child?
No parent should have to fear seeking appropriate medical treatment
for his
or her child.
Contact Information:
Brian Rogers, M.D. C.E.O.
OHSU/Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
(503) 494-8362
Ask this man to justify his hospital's position that the best thing
for
Kristopher is to terminate his mother's custody so he can receive
their
treatment when he was receiving their treatment when Kathryn's
parental
rights were not being threatened.
Joan M. Kruse, LCSW Primary Social Worker at CDRC
Pediatric Social Worker working with child's treatment
team
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
(503) 494-2273
email: krusej@ohsu.edu
Ask Ms. Kruse to explain why she has been manufacturing a case to
prove
Kathryn's dis-proved mental problems make her an unfit parent;
explain how
she can accuse Kathryn of being negligent of seeking medical
attention for
her autistic child when her employer has been providing the child's
healthcare for the past four years.
Ruth Patterson/Sonya Heinsch, HB DHS Social Worker Specialist
Dept. of Human Services
Child Welfare program
Washington County, Hillsboro Office
5920 NE Ray Circle, Suite 110
Hillsboro, Oregon 97124
(503) 681-6947 Fax (503) 681-6901
(503) 598-6102
email: Heinsch@state.or.us
This woman seems to have clear insight into the issues involved.
Encourage
her to follow her heart in this case.
Northwest Autism Foundation
Joe Taylor - Dave Humphrey
519 15th Street
Oregon Ciy, OR 97045
(503) 557-2111 Fax (503) 557-2156
email:
director@autismnwaf.org
Ask these people to explain why they would support autism research
programs
funded and administrated by organized medicine when they know that
the
vaccines institutions like OHSU recommend and routinely deliver to
our
children are at the foundation of the nation's autism epidemic.
The Mead Firm, P.C.
George W. Mead
9900 SW Wilshire, Suite 100
Portland, Oregon 97225
**********************************************************
Ingri Cassel, director
Vaccination Liberation
P.O. Box 457
Spirit Lake, Idaho 83869
(208) 255-2307 / (888) 249-1421
vaclib@coldreams.com
www.vaccinetruth.com
www.vaclib.org
Free Your Mind.....
From the Vaccine Paradigm
"When we give government
the power to make medical decisions
for us, we, in essence, accept that
the state owns our bodies."
~U.S.Representative Ron Paul, MD
(503) 296-1390
This man is the Dunn's attorney. Thank him for sticking with Kathryn
and
Kristopher and encourage him to continue.
The following physicians are involved in the case. Their contact
info
should be retained for future correspondence but could also
contacted so
they can understand that many good people can see that OHSU's
position in
this matter is out of line:
Nancy C. Winters, M.D. Fellow in Child & Adolescent
Doernbecher Children's Hospital Psychiatry
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
(503) 418-5764
Terry Bronson, M.D. Resident Pediatrics
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
(800) 452-3563
(503) 452-3563
Steven Gorsek, MACC/SLP
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
Carrie Phillipi, M.D. Lab Investigation of reflux eating
Doernbecher Children's Hospital disorders.
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
Daryyn Sikora, PhD Clinical Psychologist
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
(503) 494-2749
email: sikorad@ohsu.edu
Kurt Freeman, PhD
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
Nancy Sinden CDRC speech pathologist
Doernbecher Children's Hospital
Mail Code 3181 SW Sam Jacksoon Park Rd.
Portland, Oregon 97239-2901
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