Mom of Sick Connecticut Teen 'Collapses' in Court After Judge Sends Kid to Foster Care

[magical thyme]

131. not to me, based not only on what I've read about this case, but my personal experiences

The judge made his ruling based on what he was told by DHS and Children's, who both were strongly biased in favor of each other's version of events and against the parents. He chose to bar the Tuft's doctors from the proceedings, which suggests bias in favor of Children's and against Tufts. Children's chose to bar from the case their own gastroenterologist who knew Justina for 2 years and had insight into her condition.

I lived in Mass for 26 years I have a pretty good sense of how out of control some local agencies can get. It is a very insular place with a lot of cross-ties and deference to/infatuation with Harvard. In that time frame, I've seen people get railroaded by the system.

Furthermore, my sister is a lawyer focussed specifically on children and has been a judge (not in Mass, but in the general region). I have seen first hand how much power that position gave her, combined with ignorance of medicine, and in my sister with serious mental health issues of her own. For example, a former drug user herself, she has forced children who have never even been examined by a medical professional onto ritalin via threatening to take away parental custody. I have read about the cases she precided over and absolutely cringed in shame. She has told me she hates men and women equally. I personally know her as a manipulator and liar who will do or say pretty much anything for money. My point being that judges are not necessarily the rational, beneficient, mentally healthy beings they appear to be.

Third, working in health care I've seen how quickly the wagons get circled when mistakes made. I expect that would be true of DHS as well.

Fourth, as a citizen outside of the health care professional world, I've directly experienced how outsiders who "know too much" are seen as threats by the more insecure health care professionals.