In medical decisions, who has the final say, parent or child? What if it is life or death? In a case in Connecticut, neither the mother nor the child will have the final decision regarding treatment. A 17-year-old teenager, identified only as Cassandra C. in court papers, will be forced to undergo chemotherapy treatments despite her opposition.

The New York Times reported that both the girl and her mother, Ms. Jackie Fortin, were in agreement that Cassandra should be allowed to make the decision herself. Fortin referred to the treatment as “poison” and expressed concern that in addition to eradicating the cancer, it “kills everything else in your body.”

Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families disagreed with the refusal to receive chemotherapy. Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma last September. The department took temporary custody of her in October 2014 but released her with the promise that she continue the treatment. She did – for two days. Unwilling to continue with treatment, she ran away. After a week she returned home, fearful that her mother would be punished for her absence.

Treatment resumed in December when the Department of Children and Families had Cassandra hospitalized. Continuing the treatment against her wishes required that she be strapped to a bed and sedated. She described the experience of waking up in recovery: “I woke up … with a port surgically placed in my chest. I was outraged and felt completely violated.”

The decision was appealed to Connecticut’s Supreme Court, which ruled that Cassandra had failed to demonstrate that she was a “mature minor” and so was not qualified to make her own medical decisions. The Department of Children and Families regretted being forced to compel the family but they felt a “responsibility to take action” since in this case, “several physicians involved in this case – tell us with certainty that [the] child will die as a result of leaving the decision up to a parent.”

Her doctors report that Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients have an 85 percent chance of being cancer-free in five years with the use of chemotherapy and sometimes radiation. Given such a high chance of eliminating cancer, and that death would most likely occur without treatment, the agency felt it had no choice but to require Cassandra to remain hospitalized.