ANTI-CHEMO

Judge Denies Custody for Parents Who Stopped Cancer-Stricken Child’s Chemo

Noah McAdams will stay with his grandparents.

A Florida court ruled that Noah McAdams, a 4-year-old boy with leukemia, will stay in the custody of his grandparents after his parents stopped his chemotherapy treatments in favor of alternative therapies. Judge Thomas Palermo said that the child would face “substantial risk of imminent neglect” if left with his parents, Taylor Bland and Joshua McAdams, according to NBC News. The boy underwent 10 days of chemotherapy earlier this year and follow-up tests showed the cancer appeared to be in remission. However, the couple lost custody of their child because they “refused to follow up with life-saving medical care,” according to NBC News, and had left the state for Kentucky. A missing person alert for the boy was posted on April 29.

A lawyer for McAdams and Bland, Brooke Elvington, told NBC News that the couple had voluntarily agreed to continue Noah’s chemotherapy treatments, in addition to CBD and THC oil treatments. However, the judge said he didn’t find the couple’s promise to continue that treatment credible. Elvington said that “Noah belongs at home with his parents,” and said that the couple was “devastated” by the decision and were considering an appeal.