Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411170067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: NORWELL, MASS. LENGTH: Medium
After losing his hair and facing another five months of chemotherapy and radiation, Billy chose instead to leave his parents, trumpet, black Labrador and, doctors said, very good chances for survival.
He has Hodgkin's disease, a usually curable cancer of the lymphatic system.
The high school junior's determination to escape the painful treatments has put his family at the heart of a national debate over the rights of patients, particularly adolescents not traditionally afforded the full autonomy of adulthood, to refuse lifesaving medical care.
``I am not unhappy with my home life. The reason I left is because I could not stand going to the hospital every week,'' Billy wrote in a note he left for his parents when he ran away from home Oct. 26. ``I feel like the medicine is killing me instead of helping me.''
Billy has made several brief phone calls to his worried parents to reassure them of his safety, but he has told them he is adamant about avoiding further chemotherapy after enduring 21/2 months of treatments.
While teen-agers deemed mature enough long have been allowed to consent to medical services without their parents' approval, there is as yet no consensus about when they should be allowed to refuse treatment, said Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Legally, state courts have the power to order that minors receive medical treatment, although they rarely intervene when parents support a youth's refusal of care, Caplan said.
Reluctantly, William and Susan Best have let their son know they won't force him to take the treatments if he returns. They also have called off a national police search for Billy and asked him to pick a place to meet, with no strings attached.
A fundamentalist Christian, Billy had declared when diagnosed that his recovery should be left to God rather than chemotherapy, but a church pastor seemed to have dissuaded him.
Once the treatments began, he rarely complained. When his hair began to fall out, he simply shaved his head. And although his body was weakening, he still wanted to play on the school soccer team.
``He tried to come out again junior year - he would have been varsity, I'm sure - but the fatigue factor from the chemotherapy really prevented him from playing,'' said Bruce Marshman, principal of Norwell High School.
An outgoing teen who schoolmates say exudes a friendly cheerfulness, Billy hid his growing frustration with the chemotherapy treatments as he quietly sold off belongings. Only a few of his closest friends were aware he had cancer.
A few days after doctors told him his treatments would be extended for an extra month, he boarded a southbound Greyhound bus and fled while his parents were at Wednesday night church services.
``He must have felt so trapped he felt he had no other way,'' said his mother, Susan.
Billy's flight from his chemotherapy has struck a chord with a number of former cancer patients, many of whom have called or written to urge Billy to continue with the treatments and to offer their own experiences as hope.
Susan Best has been saving all of the letters and phone messages. ``I think it will be very impressive for Billy when he gets home.''
by CNB