Marc is caught in a battle between the state of Texas and his parents over proper medical treatment for his Lyme disease and Autism.

There is a story of significant magnitude unfolding in San Antonio, Texas. The key players in this unfortunate drama, which has all too real consequences, are an infectious disease, a single mother and her Lyme-Autistic son, Child Protective Services, the Texas Medical Board and their policy limiting access to competent care for the disease in Texas. 

Having been a social worker who worked for Child Protective Services (CPS), there is no doubt that I saw true and genuine cases of child abuse. But the truth of the matter was that the true cases of abuse were few and far between. In the year that I worked for the Bell County CPS, over 90% of the cases in which abuse was reported and children were removed from the home, the cases were ultimately determined to be "unfounded". Make no mistake, abuse certainly occurred, but not on the part of the parents. When the state comes in and removes a child from the home, and places them into state protective custody while an investigation of abuse is carried out that ultimately proves to be unfounded--- the charge of abuse, the guilt of the abuse lays completely at the feet of the state. In this scenario, the state of Texas is the abuser of the child. The very organization that the public is expected to trust with the protection and welfare of children is the actual abuser in more than 90% of the cases of reported abuse each year.

I am not a fan of "big government." Government does have its place, but it should be run by the people and for the people, not special interest groups with conflicts of interest and financial gain.

This case in San Antonio tells a tale we are all familiar with. If we have paid any attention to the Dr. Jones saga, the world's leading pediatric Lyme disease specialist who is fighting for his license against his state medical board, this is just the same song, different verse…sounds the same but is a whole lot worse.

Marc is a boy who has been diagnosed with Autism and Lyme disease. His infectious disease (ID) doctor, working from the now infamous 2006 Lyme Disease Guidelines, offered Marc a very limited round of antibiotics. You know the ones…2 weeks of doxy and you're cured! (If it sounds "too good to be true"…it probably is!). The ID doctor then referred Marc and his mother to a pediatric neurologist who, not wanting to believe the previous diagnosis and lab results of 2 different labs that the child could possibly have Lyme in Texas, wanted to do a series of invasive tests that included a liver and lung biopsy, and spinal tap. 

As invasive as these tests are, none of them offer great diagnostic ability. Marc already had 2 confirmed positive lab tests for Lyme disease, so his mother declined the invasive procedures on her fragile child. The mother had done her homework on testing and knew that an already low diagnostic probability was further compromised by her child already being on antibiotics. The neurologist was not aware of these facts.

Within days of declining the invasive procedures that could not provide a certain diagnosis, Child Protective Services (CPS) showed up with law enforcement. With no search warrant, with no permission, the CPS case worker and the law enforcement officers made an invasive entry into the home.
The case worker proceeded to do a full body strip search on the terrified child, looking for physical signs of abuse such as bruising. None was found. The chaotic environment of the social worker, police, and being strip searched sent Marc into an Autistic frenzied state.

In the midst of this unfolding drama, the social worker looked at Marc's mom and asked her, "What did you do to make your child sick?" Charges of Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy and “doctor seeking” were alleged against the mother.

CPS removed the child from the home and placed him with the non-custodial parent. The parents were not in any disagreement over the medical care and decisions regarding Marc, and the treatments were the responsibility of the mother. However, subsequently Marc's father was also charged with medical abuse in a ploy to pit the parents against each other. 

Now I don't know about you, but I have BIG problems with this! When the most basic of parental rights, choosing medical care and procedures for their children, is stripped away from parents and it is replaced with the "Nanny State" or it's government office of child protection services, to super-impose their judgment over the parents’ judgment as to what is best for the child, we are heading into an Orwellian big brother state.

CPS has never been known for their good medical judgment. In 1996, a school district in Virginia had a state social worker take a child from their school to a medical visit by a state-funded clinic for a diagnosis of ADHD. The mother and school had had repeated disagreements over putting the child on medications. So the school circumvented the parents by enlisting the use of state social workers who were not school employees to come and take the child off campus. 

In the end, the medication that was prescribed and given to the child at school without parental knowledge or consent, cross-reacted with the other medications the child was taking at home and the child died. When the parents took the school to court to sue for wrongful death and criminal negligence, the court ruled in the school's favor, saying they did only what they felt "was in the best interest of the child."

More recently, CPS has continued to make the evening news with their lapses in medical judgments that seem to consistently end up with DEAD children as the collateral damage. All in the name of…"the best interest of the child." Who's kidding who?

State records show that, "One in three Texas foster children has been diagnosed with mental illness and prescribed mind-altering drugs, including some that the federal government has not approved for juveniles."

The Dallas Morning News reported in August 2008 that, "Many of these drugs are prescribed by doctors who have a financial stake in pharmaceutical companies' success. Dozens of physicians who treat children in state custody supplement their salaries with tens of thousands of dollars in consulting and speakers' fees, and they use drug company grants to fund their research projects."

Mikie Garcia died when he was 12 while under restraint in Texas foster care. At the time of his death, a toxicology report showed an attention deficit and hyperactivity drug, an antidepressant, a mood stabilizer, and an antiphsychotic drug not FDA-approved for use in children in his bloodstream.

And this is the agency we are supposed to trust to oversee the protection of the children? Forgive me if I think PARENTS are far better equipped for the job of making life and death medical decisions regarding their children's health. 

If we lose this battle of parental rights over making medical choices on behalf of our children, which right will be the NEXT to go? Educational choices? Discipline choices?

The ONLY reason the state ever has to intervene into the rights of a family is if there is a clear and present danger. This has been recently confirmed in a detailed decision by the Federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals which has also detailed circumstances and procedure. This case is said to be forcing Texas CPS to revise their entire policy and procedures rules.

Making a choice between two recognized standards of care for medical treatment is NOT a clear and present danger in any shape or form… well, maybe an Orwellian form! Or is that now a Texas form??