Boy, 9, dies while mother awaits trial for allegedly withholding care

Maybe if medical care wouldn't have put the whole family into bankruptcy then he could have had the treatment he wanted for a disease that kills almost all it's victims. How could the state even presume to care more about a child than his own mother?

I don't understand our system. This mother is being charged with child endangerment because she didn't follow through with the prescribed medical care. Yet, as a teacher, I have countless students who are prescribed both medications and therapy by doctors and when the parents don't follow through then, nothing happens. However, these students, who go untreated for emotional and nuerological issues, follow down a long, and dangerous path that usually leads to substance abuse and crime.
How can we deliniate here? Children are endangered in both cases.
I'm so sick of bad parents.

How sad,he was just beginning his life. May he rest in peace.

This is a fabulous example of how non-custodial parents are shoved to the sidelines and custodial parents are not held fully accountable for their actions. This state only cares about collecting money from non-custodial parents (mostly dads) and turn a blind eye to all the other ways children are neglected, mistreated or poorly parented.

Thanks a lot Massachusetts.

Why wasn't custody of the boy removed from the mother and given to the father when she first denied him treatment.

I wonder if the cost of medical treatment deterred her from seeking medical care sooner.

Maybe if it did, the medical industry itself can be held as an accomplice.

This just breaks my heart... I could never imagine denying my son medical attention if he needed it. He's my world and I would give my own life for him... He was lucky to have a father who loved him so much, and now he has a special angel to watch over him...
It amazes me how some people just take advantage of the gift of a child. I will never understand it. Never...

How was the mother able to get away with it? Why wasn't the poor child placed with his father last year?

Charge that so-called "mother" with murder.

You are in my prayers Eric.

It would help to have some context as to why the mother withheld care, and why the father didn't step in.

GOD BLESS! I AM TRUELY SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS. WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO YOU AND YOUR SON. I WISH YOU LUCK IN YOUR SEARCH FOR JUSTICE.

This is so poorly written. What happened? How was care withheld. Sheesh.

This is a poorly written article. What treatment did she withhold? Leukemia is not always a curable disease, sometimes the treatment just prolongs suffering. This article doesn't explain much at all.

I feel so much sadness over any parent losing their child. Sometimes it just doesn't seem like life is very fair. My heart goes out to the family.

As usual poor reporting on the part of the Globe with an inflammatory title. Did the mother and father simply disagree on the choice of care or the did the mother lock him up in the basement?

Everyone should have a choice in their care, even if the Globe/Government doesn't agree with it.

This is so sad. What a horrible thing to have to go through, and a terrible shame and I feel bad commenting, but there are so many questions I wish were included with this story. I assume the couple is unmarried? Are they divorced? Did difference of opinions in how to treat the child cause them to divorce if they were previously married? What difference in treatment did they have? Why did the mother withhold care? Was cost of health care an issue? Had the boy been fighting Leukemia all his life and his mother said no more suffering? What laws did she break? Its a tragic story but I wish the report was more thorough.

Beyond horrific

RIP Jeremy.

Easier to blame the mother than the system. Way to go system. I feel badly for the mother. If you are going to blame the mother, where was the father that he didn't step in sooner?

She is charged because she did not bring her child to Dr.'s appointments and did not give him his prescriptions. According to other articles his form of cancer had a high success rate when treated. So in this case it wasn't the system, it wasn't costs, it was negligence on the the mothers part - allegedly.

To: Mikey "Insane" Monkeypants
"I wonder if the cost of medical treatment deterred her from seeking medical care sooner. Maybe if it did, the medical industry itself can be held as an accomplice."

That's really rich - so now the mother is really a victim of the 'big, bad medical industry' and not just a totally irresponsible mother. You've got to be kidding me!

To: Mikey "Insane" Monkeypants
"I wonder if the cost of medical treatment deterred her from seeking medical care sooner. Maybe if it did, the medical industry itself can be held as an accomplice."

That's really rich - so now the mother is really a victim of the 'big, bad medical industry' and not just a totally irresponsible mother. You've got to be kidding me!

I agree with all who have said this is an extremely poorly written story. Was care withheld because of religious beliefs or simple laziness. It's hardly believeable that care was withheld because of cost. Surely, there are programs available that could have helped. Blaming "the system" makes no sense. "The System" is not responsible for seeking care for Jeremy, his parents are. And why does the article seem to sympathize with the father. Wasn't he also responsible for making sure Jeremy had proper medical care?

The article before this one says the mother failed to give the son medicine, failed to pick it up from the drug store, failed to get him to appointments etc.
I can understand an ideological choice to refuse medical care, or even in some unfortunate cases, a financial one. It sounds like this mother had no such reasoning, she was just being lazy or intentionally choosing to end her sons life through with-holding the care.

mike,
his cancer was completely treatable and from what i have read affordable for the family, so in my opinion this woman should have the book thrown at her. she stated his treatments were at inconvenient times. how does a parent even think that? i ask you.

democraddict:

It's not the same... I would never put any of my kids on meds for behavioral issues or neurological issues, that only leads to drug dependency and there are much more natural ways to go about it. And just because a doctor thinks I should, does not warrant them taking away my children and charging me with child neglect... there are plenty of doctors who are against these kind of meds. Teachers need to stop pretending they have medical degrees and do their jobs, classes have had unruly kids for centuries, the solution wasn't to sedate them but to figure out the root of the problem and address it... or send them to the principals office , give them detention and have their parents come into the school constantly until the parents got fed up and straightened up their act as well as their kids.

Denying a kid medical treatment for leukemia is in no way the same as refusing treatment for behavioral issues, one teachers hyper child is a loving mothers active child... maybe you should consider a new career, there are more and more parents taking the drug-free route.

Naturally MA has the funds, staff and media power needed to get this case blown up but not enough to pay for the treatment or any kind of medical or social work staff to intervene before he died. So typical.

I've been an RN in long term care and rehab for years. We have been dealing with end of life issues forever without incident. There are choices for those that are dying or in chronic pain. We have health care proxy's, do not resuscitate orders, hospice and palliative care services- what is the deal with the government intervening in the choice of this family on when to adopt a care and comfort approach? There does come a point when God really should kick in and someone who has been struggling with a terminal illness actually succumbs to the disease- it is called terminal for a reason. All of those things that I mentioned don't mean that we as medical professionals do absolutely nothing either.

This explains a little bit better...
Sad sad story..

In a police report filed in court, Salem police detectives said the child had an 85 to 90 percent survival rate when first diagnosed. He was to get five stages of chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and at home, which was to be administered by LaBrie, police said.

Police said in the report that LaBrie changed her son's appointments a dozen times, failed to administer medication, failed to pick up medications at the drug store and, as a result, "his cancer has returned quicker and stronger.''

Fraser said he could not co-parent with his former wife and that tensions grew so high he withdrew from directly caring for his son, fearing that continued contact with LaBrie would end with him facing criminal charges. He said he continued to pay child support but did not see his son from early 2007 until December 2007.

“Fraser said he could not co-parent with his former wife and that tensions grew so high he withdrew from directly caring for his son, fearing that continued contact with LaBrie would end with him facing criminal charges. He said he continued to pay child support but did not see his son from early 2007 until December 2007”. - quoted from an article dated 7/1/8

What has happened is tragic, but why is it ok that his father didn’t step in sooner and all the blame falls on the mom? Fraser should be charged just as the mom is charged. Paying child support doesn’t excuse him from taking the child to his treatments as well. Once he knew the mom had missed a few appointments, he should’ve stepped in to take him and/or pick up the prescriptions. Men tend to forget, that it’s about the welfare of the child, not whether or not you get along with the child’s mother. This tragic loss is just as much his fault as it is hers…… As a single mother myself, it’s not easy handling all the emotional, and physical nurturing of child on your own. She could’ve been overwhelmed by it all. If Fraser was a real man and father, he would’ve fought to get custody of his son, and continued the treatments to save his life. In my opinion, he should be blamed as well…

To nadie
Actually, there are many of us that are victims of the "big, bad medical industry"... so stop being so quick to judge. Maybe she is not poor enough to be on MassHealth, or maybe she was born in this country, (a huge disadvantage).........or maybe it was against her religion...or maybe she didn't want to see her son suffer for another 3 years with no real hope, who are you to judge?

The hospitals in MA will not close their doors to treating a sick child with leukemia, no matter what. This story is so poorly written and very little information is given out. Were the parents divorced and the mother had sole custody? Was the father out of the picture? Why didn't she take him to the doctor? Why didn't he? How was the boy discovered? I don't understand much of this story except for the fact the a little boy died tragically of leukemia while the father is suing the mother for child neglect.

Who is to say what "proper medical care" includes? Why shouldn't a parent be able to choose to treat or not treat a given condition? We have the ability to refuse treatment as adults - we should be allowed to refuse treatment for children as well. This should not be a DSS or criminal issue. To make it so (again) is just another smack by the Commonwealth against the rights of individuals and parents.

If the non-custodial parent disagreed with the treatment choice, then s/he could bring it to the courts to solve. To wait for MGH to contact DSS shows a lack of involvement by the non-custodial parent.

I live on the North Shore & have followed this story as it has been unfolding. The mother had custody of the boy. When he was diagnosed, it was a highly curable form of cancer. The mother was given an outline of the treatment & given appts & prescriptions to fill. She didn't fill the scripts & would call & cancel the appts & not reschedule them. The father was aware of none of this. When his cancer changed from the type of lymphoma he was originally diagnosed with to leukemia, the Dr did some searching thru records & found out what was going on & blew the whistle on the mother. Check out the whole story on the Salem News website

Don't blame the cost of health care - the Dad works at UPS and they get BCBS coverage. The boy also had autism which makes him eligible for MassHealth, which would have covered all his co-pays and medications. And to crlsnjnn - a non-custodial parent has rights but can't force the custodial parent to do anything they chose not to do without filing contempt of court. We couldn't get my stepson to the dentist until we sued for custody.

this article was definelty written poorly ...my heart goes out to eric and although i dont agree with the mothers actions to her as well.... having a child with any medical condtions is a tremendous amount of work i am sure but if you cant handle it for any reason you need to be parent enough to ask for HELP. in a seperate article it state the mom didnt take jeremy to dozens of chemo appts and only filled about half of his medications - so yes she is at fault for medical negligence if you ask me...i like people stated above...would do anything for my child including givin my own life if i knew it would help....blamin the system is easy b/c everything revolves around money and no body has any....but its no the only answer.... i give eric a tremendous amount of credit for stepping up and taking care of his son it unfortunately is not often heard of .....my condolences to eric and the family of Jeremy no matter how you look at this its a very sad situation but as eric mentioned it is comforting to know jeremy is no longer in pain .......love and prayers

Amazing how judgmental the comments are, given that there is no information at all in the story. WHAT medical care was withheld? WHAT doctors said it would have saved his life? I wasn't aware that treatment for leukemia was so cut and dried. WHY did the mother make that decision? This is one of the most poorly reported stories I've read in some time.

from what I remember about the original articles, the mother was a lazy, selfish woman who wo would make appointments and not keep them. I have no pity for her. That father was lied to andby the time he found out the truth, the child was very, very sick. The state stepped in as early as it could. People complain about the government being in it's business then blame the stae when

This isn't an article, it's a breaking news blurb. For those of you so interested in learning more, a simple boston.com site search of "Kristen LaBrie" brings up 7 Globe articles, 2 news updates, and six newswires, in addition to a touching photo gallery.

For those of you too lazy to do the search yourselves, I'll summarize for you:
- the withholding apparently had more to do with disorganization than affordability
- she did lose custody at the time

And for those who complain about the article being poorly written without a mention of the tremendous loss.... how can anyone be so self-centered??

The Globe is assuming everyone remembers the story from several months ago but in a nutshell, the father was suing for custody because he found out the mother wasn't taking him to Dr appts, etc and by the time the courts got around to dealing with it, and giving custodial care to the Dad the poor thing took a turn for the worst and it was too late.

The one question that needs to be asked...Where was the "father" of the child? Standing outside the courthouse demanding justice????? A little too late!

I'm so sick of bad parents.

I totally agree, we live in a world where so many parents think of themselves before their children.

I am a leukemia survivor, having been diagnosed just before 9/11. I take medication and I lead a completely normal life. The leukemia I have is not curable (yet) but it is controllable. While the drug I take is quite expensive, I only have to make the normal monthly co-pay thanks to the generosity of Blue Cross. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has programs that help patients with their financial situation as it pertains to their treatment. They also have an excellent set of counseling services and support groups. Help is there if the parent went looking for it. Obviously it was much easier to let Jeremy die. I thank my family for not letting that happen to me. RIP Jeremy.

This woman should pay the ultimate price, life in prison with no parole. I mean it's pretty clear she was insane for thinking spirits and gods would heal her son, instead of medicine, but we need to set a high example so every loony who believes in higher powers and gods knows they still have to obey the law.

I wonder what part ignorance played here. Even really bad prognosis cases of leukemia can go into such a long remission it looks like a cure - maybe it is. The kid I knew with leukemia in childhood died in 6 weeks, and his only remission came with transfusions that did not stop the disease. George W. Bush's life was blighted by the loss of his sister (and probably a lot of secrecy about her end).

But did the mother realize that there are cases where a kid lives into the college years and remains healthy? Did she only know about the bad stuff? I know a man named Nick, who was sick with leukemia in preschool which he attended with our daughter. He was in all the Jimmy Fund films just before the movie, where they collect for the fund. Last time we ran into his parents, they reported he was just fine and had graduated college.

I feel sorry for this family, and especially for the kid and his dad.

Had most of you read the original story you would know the facts. The parents were not together and mom had custody. She did not bring him in for treatment (missed umerous appts), did not pick up his meds and did no kind of follow through. By the time his oncologists reported her and welfare got to him, got through the courts he was too far gone. This is not about lack of medical help, or money, this is about a mother who wilfully missed appts, when she was called to reschedule she did so but missed that appt too.

The mother needs to take responsibility for her actions, in essence she killed her child and should be prosecuted.

Caring for a child is demanding, even when the child is in good health. But, caring for a very sick child is demanding to the extreme. There are countless appointments for treatments, doctor visits, etc. Doing all that needs to be done can be overwhelming. I think in this sad case, the mother simply could or would not meet all of the demands of caring for a very sick child. It's definitely not an easy road, but most people do whatever it takes to help their child recover. Very sad and so unnecessary.

Amanda
Money isn't the issue. Negligence is.

Enough already! Although certainly a tragedy, life is full of unjustices, including children who die of cancer. Let's face it, the child was in hospice care...Addendum: The father should have spoken up and STEPPED UP legally sooner if he disagreed with the tx or lack thereof that his child was or was not receiving while in the ex's custody.

My son (15) was given Lexipro (without our knowledge). He was also given a prescription for Ativan (without our knowledge). He is not a kid that needs drugs -- he's a 15-year-old boy with normal ups and downs. But the doctors don't tell HIS PARENTS anything. I would never have condoned these medicines...but parents don't seem to have many rights here. Unless they do something that the system thinks is wrong. Granted, this is not on the same plane as leukemia drugs, but sometimes I really don't think doctors necessarily know the best treatment.

hey "fed up with lazy teachers" yours didn't do a great job with you, how do you spell remember???
Focus on the facts there is a little boy who lost his life too soon because medication that would have saved his life was withheld, and pray for his family.

We do not know, therefore we should not just guess why the mother did not take this boy for medical treatment. Maybe she just didn't want to raise a child. Maybe she was suffering from depression. Maybe she didn't realize that a hospital may not deny a patient treatment for a life-threatening illness because of inability to pay. People are often poorly informed about a lot of things. (PS: I'm not guessing here. I'm just suggesting that there is a wide variety of possible explanations.

This boy would have had an 85% chance of being cured of his leukemia. Parents made decisions based on issues rather than the best choice for son.

Very poorly written article and honestly--we're depending on the angry ex-husband for most of the info? According to the story from last year, this guy got so angry about his son's treatment that he...just didn't see him for a year. Huh? This sounds like a brutally sad story--a bad divorce, an autistic child with cancer--but seriously--if the Globe can't report on it better than this, it should just leave it alone. This is drive-by journalism.

I am a teacher and do not believe teachers are lazy but wholeheartedly agree with Fed Up that children should not be medicated for being hyper. I think there are many alternatives out there that can be used in lieu of medication. A parent choosing not to medicate their child for A.D.H.D is not irresponsible and it is an entirely different situation that should not be compared to the one presented in this article. This article gives far too little information. Regardless of whether there was negligence or not, it is a really heartbreaking story and my sympathy goes out to those that knew and loved this little boy.

You want some answers to your questions on where the blame lies? Well why dont you ask Eric! His answer to a mother in need of some help having transpotation trouble during a snow storm on gettin his son to a Dr appt " take the bus" His answer to why he dient want to have visitation with his son" He(Jeremy) has no quality of life , I dont have a connection with him, he dosent know if i with him or not, Ill see him when im ready!" Or why dont you ask him why he dident even bother to meet with the bone marrow transplant team to see what they had to say! Or ask him where he ended up the one and only time he came to mass general to give hismother a break when she just spent 45 day staight there overlooking her son! oh ya thats right when she called to talk to eric he wasent in the room he was across the street boozin with his girlfriend!!! This guy trys and plays the hero role??? ARE U KIDDIN ME!! He he was any kind of manor fatherhe would of been in that hospital room right next to Kristen lookin out for jermy!! But he makes it to court evrytime "to find out whats going on! and Justice!" All he ever did for 8 years was bitch about child support and make up excuses to not see his kid !! Hey Eric why dont u stop playin the role tough guy!!! Its only a matter of time before reality or Something else hit u up side the head!!!

Does anyone understand the pain and suffering a child endures during chemo? This child had been treated and was in remission and then it went downhill again... there wasn't a guarantee the first time how could there be any guarantee the second time. Maybe the mother didn't want to put her son through that again, maybe her son pleaded with her to not make him go through that again. My brother passed away at 8 years old, he was tired of the hospitals and most of all the pain... at 8 years old he told the doctors "no more, no more."

I'm sure his mother did what she felt was right, and she will sleep better knowing he's no longer in pain.

If we allow the courts to start forcing us to follow treatment plans prescribed by doctors, we are essentially putting the drug companies in control of our lives... because that's who the doctors really work for.

(Off topic, but #26 brought it up) Remember the days when teachers were actually paid a good salary? And allowed to teach without their hands tied, without being glorified babysitters? Don't even get me started on school budgets. Teachers *jobs* are exactly to be educated and aware of behavioral problems, learning disabilities, etc. Maybe if PARENTS did their jobs, teachers wouldn't have to step in. And DUH, you can't compare now to "centuries ago" unless you want to ride your horse to school. Oh yeah, and leave the girls at home too. Many of the children who are being treated for a variety of medical and social disorders now would not have survived their childhoods, and would have died very young.

Which brings me back to this sad, sad story. I remember a news story from many months ago where the father had implied that the mother withheld treatment as a way of getting back at the father. Allegedly. I think there might be mental health issues at the core here. No excuse to take your child's life.

"fed up with lazy teachers" - wow, you are way out of line here. This isn't the place for your personal soapbox on learning disabilities and treatments thereof.

RIP, Jeremy. Everyone around you failed you. I'm sorry.

Dear Governor Patrick,

Here's a tip to save tons of money on our state budget, we can shut down the courts of law, because the fine people who contribute to the comments section of news stories have it all figured out.

I really wonder about this case. I can't imagine anyone withholding treatment for their sick child, but at the same time, where was the father? Divorced or not, one would think that he'd know enough to know whether the child was sick, what the treatment was supposed to be, and whether he was getting that treatment, especially considering that his child already had a major health issue, autism. Did the mother take him to some treatments/get some meds, but not all? Does she work? Maybe she couldn't get any time off (NOT that that's an excuse, just wondering.) There are so many holes in this story.
Poor kid. When the story kind of faded, I had held out hope that maybe he'd make a turnaround and recover. RIP Jeremy.

As a mother of a son with Leukemia, Leukemia ia a very treatable disease. Leukemia has very long treatment(depending on what kind), and is usually around three years. Not giving a child a chance at life, is despickable and unacceptable as a parent. We are here to protect them, and care for them. I hope the child is now at peace and out of pain, and that the father can find some justice in his situation.

Like Jeremy, my autistic child will not take medications unless 3 people hold her down and force it into her. It is not easy for me as a single parent to care for an autistic child (thank #56 for letting us know how the father neglected his responsibility, like the father of my child does). It is my nightmare that I would be forced to give my child these toxic medications that can IN THEMSELVES cause death.( #57 has a point here)Jeremy's father had custody of the child for at least 5 months before the child died, even during remission in September. So how can the father charge the mother with his death? Even the doctors didn't believe Jeremy would live beyond his 9th birthday. Sad story :(

Charging the mother could just be an alibi for yet another "cancer" death by chemo "therapy". Parents have every right to withhold aggressive medical treatment. American medicine is in a state of moral and scientific failure. Economically, however, it is thriving. Add it up, folks. It's become just another American sham, but a deadly one.