DC - Justina gets standing ovation from Congress

[annahanna]

I'm so sorry to hear that your child is back in the hospital, and I hope things are going as well as they can. I'm sure all the posters here agree.

Thanks sweetmom. My son needs periodic treatment at BCH, but with that treatment he is leading a full and happy life. He will even head off to university soon! Thanks to amazing care by his BCH (and other) doctors, you usually could not pick him out as the "sick kid." I wish the Pelletier family had allowed the doctors at BCH to give Justina a similar gift of a full and happy life.

I periodically meet parents who are worked up by the Pelletier story and convinced that their kid is the next kidnapping victim. My question is always "Why are you here if you are afraid?" The answer is almost always "They can't really treat X as well anywhere else." I would think that would tell them something, but the sad reality is that the people who want to believe the scare stories will believe them despite the facts.

 

[sweetmom]

Thanks sweetmom. My son needs periodic treatment at BCH, but with that treatment he is leading a full and happy life. He will even head off to university soon! Thanks to amazing care by his BCH (and other) doctors, you usually could not pick him out as the "sick kid." I wish the Pelletier family had allowed the doctors at BCH to give Justina a similar gift of a full and happy life.


I periodically meet parents who are worked up by the Pelletier story and convinced that their kid is the next kidnapping victim. My question is always "Why are you here if you are afraid?" The answer is almost always "They can't really treat X as well anywhere else." I would think that would tell them something, but the sad reality is that the people who want to believe the scare stories will believe them despite the facts.

I'm very glad to hear that your son is doing well, and I am sure that is in no small part because you (based on what you write so eloquently on this board) are a very level-headed, well-informed parent and savvy consumer of medical care in all its many confusing aspects. Brava, Annahanna!

I find the whole dynamic of people who are all too eager to believe the worst of doctors and hospitals to be fascinating, albeit in a very frustrating and depressing way. I'm guessing many of them feel intimidated by doctors (and in some cases, that is the fault of particular doctors they've dealt with --- shame on those docs.) And the sad fact is that there are an awful lot of gullible, naïve folks out there who are happy to believe wild stories. I feel sorry for them. How anyone could believe an entire hospital staff --- because that is what it would take --- could be conspiring to harm a sick kid is just beyond me. But their comments demonstrate they do believe exactly that, time after time.

 

[sweetmom]

Arrgggh. The New York Times is running an op-ed piece, The New Child Abuse Panic by Maxine Eichner, a college professor, that regurgitates all the unproven accusations made by the Pelletiers in a piece about arrogant doctors and mistaken diagnoses. No doubt such docs and diagnoses do exist, and that is very disturbing, but none of that makes the uncorroborated Pelletier claims true. I was tempted to respond with a laundry list correcting their distortions and deceptions, but I know I would just get slammed by their devoted and misinformed fans, who of course are chiming in in the comments, calling for lawsuits, praising the family, cursing the hospital and the courts: the usual. But really, the Times should vet these pieces before printing them.

 

[joypath]

Arrgggh. The New York Times is running an op-ed piece, The New Child Abuse Panic by Maxine Eichner, a college professor, that regurgitates all the unproven accusations made by the Pelletiers in a piece about arrogant doctors and mistaken diagnoses. No doubt such docs and diagnoses do exist, and that is very disturbing, but none of that makes the uncorroborated Pelletier claims true. I was tempted to respond with a laundry list correcting their distortions and deceptions, but I know I would just get slammed by their devoted and misinformed fans, who of course are chiming in in the comments, calling for lawsuits, praising the family, cursing the hospital and the courts: the usual. But really, the Times should vet these pieces before printing them.

Sweetmom, I fell to the temptation, posted & was REMOVED from the site ASAP (or so it seemed!). For clarity, here's the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/opinion/sunday/the-new-child-abuse-panic.html?_r=0

 

[sweetmom]

Sweetmom, I fell to the temptation, posted & was REMOVED from the site ASAP (or so it seemed!). For clarity, here's the NYT article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/opinion/sunday/the-new-child-abuse-panic.html?_r=0

Wow. We're you tossed off the NYT comments or the Miracle for Justina site? Either way, that is disturbing.....

 

[joypath]

Wow. We're you tossed off the NYT comments or the Miracle for Justina site? Either way, that is disturbing.....

LOL....I have to admit that as an individual who professes constantly "attention to detail", folks......I really left that statement ambiguous! Tossed off the miracle site! (but no great loss, IMHO!)

PS: 7/21/15 is the next court date....foreclosure http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=HHDCV116019346S

 

[sweetmom]

LOL....I have to admit that as an individual who professes constantly "attention to detail", folks......I really left that statement ambiguous! Tossed off the miracle site! (but no great loss, IMHO!)

PS: 7/21/15 is the next court date....foreclosure http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=HHDCV116019346S

I can recall other Websleuthers saying they too had their comments almost instantly removed from the Miracle site, evidently because those comments asked questions or did not parrot the Pelletier-approved version of things. They must be monitoring the site very carefully.

That's quite a list regarding the ongoing foreclosure proceedings, which began way back in 2008 (or even earlier?). I see that the upcoming 7/21 procedure is a "status conference," whatever that means. Far as I can tell, no new date has been set for a foreclosure auction. There have been quite a few, all of which were cancelled.

 

[sweetmom]

The Miracle site has now posted the NYT op-ed column. And the commenters are having a field day.

 

[sweetmom]

LOL....I have to admit that as an individual who professes constantly "attention to detail", folks......I really left that statement ambiguous! Tossed off the miracle site! (but no great loss, IMHO!)

PS: 7/21/15 is the next court date....foreclosure http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=HHDCV116019346S

The status conference slated for 7/21 has now been moved to 8/27. The Pelletiers are masters of postponement.

 

[sweetmom]

More news on the Miracle site today: the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, the ultra-conservative who was involved in the Terri Schiavo case and has taken up Justina's cause as well, posted a prayer request, saying Justina is having more surgery today. No details on what kind, or where, or how serious it may be.
The commenters are trying to outdo each other with fervid prayers, and at least one says not to bother with prayer, just send the family money.
Haven't we seen this movie before?

 

[sweetmom]

The status conference concerning the pending foreclosure that was slated for 7/21 has now been moved to 8/27.
No, make that 4/14/16.
The Pelletiers are the grand masters of postponement.
Some sort of new bankruptcy declaration is also listed on
http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseD...HDCV116019346S

Those of you who visit the Miracle site will have seen new photos of Justina with the Rev. Mahoney. She is still using an NG tube, which AnnaHanna has pointed out is unusual after all this time. And still no details on what kind of surgery she recently underwent.

 

[sweetmom]

Those of you who may be following the saga of the Kentucky clerk who is now in jail for refusing to obey repeated court orders to issue marriage licenses to all applicants, straight or gay, may have noticed that Kim Davis' legal counsel is none other than Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, the ultra-right law firm that also has played a big role in the Pelletier case. So far, Staver's advice to Ms. Davis has landed her in jail, apparently indefinitely. One wonders what kind of advice he is giving the Pelletiers on their oft-threatened, yet so far unfiled, lawsuit against BCH, Mass DCF and who knows who else. IMO, Staver is more interested in getting publicity for his firm than in actually winning a case for his clients.

 

[i.b.nora]

I think Davis is being paid by Liberty Counsel to play along.

And, since she was not granted bail, they can't bail her out.

 

[sweetmom]

IMO, Liberty may have convinced Davis she would reap donations, book deals, etc. But I don't think that is happening. It will be interesting to watch this play out. I believe Liberty was also deeply involved with the Terri Schiavo case, and they lost all their legal challenges in that mess, too.

 

[stormshine]

The house is now in pre-foreclosure and it looks like the bankruptcy was changed from chap 13 to chap 7.

 

[i.b.nora]

The basics about Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

http://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-7-bankruptcy-basics

 

[sweetmom]

The basics about Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

http://www.uscourts.gov/services-forms/bankruptcy/bankruptcy-basics/chapter-7-bankruptcy-basics

I can't find anything new on their preforeclosure or bankruptcy procedings, which keep getting kicked forward. Do you have new links? Would love to see them!

 

[stormshine]

The bankruptcy update: http://www.open-public-records.com/court/connecticut-14502683.htm.

I might have been wrong about the pre-foreclosure. It's listed that way on zillow but it could be leftover from last time.

 

[sweetmom]

The bankruptcy update: http://www.open-public-records.com/court/connecticut-14502683.htm.

I might have been wrong about the pre-foreclosure. It's listed that way on zillow but it could be leftover from last time.

Far as I can tell, the foreclosure is still on hold. It's been threatened and then postponed many times over the past 8years or so. A hearing was scheduled for this August, which then was moved to Sept or Oct, and now is scheduled for April 14 2016. A long while back, rumors swirled that some mysterious "billionaire" had bailed the Pelletiers out from their considerable debts and foreclosure problem, but apparently that was not true. (Shocking!!)

IMO, the Ps are still facing bankruptcy and foreclosure, but have perfected the art of kicking final resolution down the road indefinitely. Thus they continue to live in a half-million dollar home with a swimming pool in a fine neighborhood and may still not be paying any utility bills, using the ploy of saying they have a medically fragile child at home, which allows them to still receive utility services despite years of unpaid bills. Because their Miracle site is not registered with the state of CT, no one really knows what they are using all the donated money for....but it does not seem to be going towards mortgage or utility bill arrears.

 

[sweetmom]

Meant to include in my last post:
Justina is now 17 so that "medically fragile child" excuse will run out when she turns 18, IMO. And according to earlier posts on this site, they have only until mid-Feb 2016 to file that long-rumored lawsuit that all their supporters believe will be filed. That's just 5 months from now....