The right of parents to determine the course of medical treatment for their children has suffered yet another slap in the face.
On April 29, 2013, a hearing took place regarding the Gestapo style abduction by Child Protective Services of 5 month old baby Sammy after his parents, Alex and Anna Nikolayev, took him out of Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento.
They left Sutter Memorial in order to seek a second opinion at Kaiser Permanente, a rival hospital, for Sammy’s flu-like symptoms.
Anna and Alex sought medical treatment at Kaiser because they were extremely concerned about the quality of care baby Sammy was receiving at Sutter Memorial.
When doctors at Sutter Memorial began discussing the possibility of heart surgery for the infant, the alarmed parents took the baby and left as the medical staff would not discharge Sammy so they could seek another opinion regarding the child’s heart murmur.
“If we got the one mistake after another, I don’t want to have my baby have surgery in the hospital where I don’t feel safe,” Anna said.
She added, ”We went from one hospital to another. We just wanted to be safe, that he is in good hands.”
While at the second hospital, medical staff determined Sammy was fine. The attending doctor at Kaiser said in a written statement, “I do not have concern for the safety of the child at home with his parents.”
Despite the all clear from the medical staff at Kaiser, CPS escorted by armed police showed up at the Nikolayev’s home the next day and took baby Sammy in outrageous and dramatic fashion.
Anna’s home video of the incident shows police entering the home.
“I’m going to grab your baby, and don’t resist, and don’t fight me ok?” a Sacramento police officer is heard saying in the video.
Prior to abducting the baby without so much as a warrant, Alex was slammed against a wall, pushed to the ground and his house keys forcibly removed from him after meeting with officers outside.
Worst of all, after taking the baby, CPS returned the child to the protective custody of the exact same hospital the parents had originally fled to seek a second medical opinion – Sutter Memorial – for wanting to perform unnecessary open heart surgery on the infant.
Court Hearing a Slap in the Face to Parent Rights
At a hearing on the matter, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Paul Seave determined that custody should be immediately returned to the parents.
The Nikolayevs can now see Sammy whenever they want. They also supposedly now have full control over the child’s medical decisions.
In reality, however, the Nikolayevs are still under the thumb of CPS and their rights as parents continue to be violated.
Rather than the child returning home where the parents would continue under the care of medical staff at Kaiser Permanente which was their original choice, baby Sammy was transferred by court order to yet a third hospital – Stanford Medical Center.
The judge also ruled that Anna and Alex must follow all medical advice from now on, including not taking their child from Stanford Medical Center without proper discharge.
Why are Anna and Alex being forced to follow the medical advice of Stanford Medical Center and not the medical staff at Kaiser Permanente who determined the child was safe at home for the time being?
Why is this child still in the hospital and not at home and under the supervision of the medical staff the parents originally chose?
Most alarming, Child Protective Services is still involved with this case even after its Gestapo style abduction of the child as captured on home video.
While Sammy will be returned to the custody of his parents upon discharge from Stanford Medical Center, CPS will continue to monitor the situation with regular home visits by a social worker.
Why is CPS being permitted by the court to monitor this child when the parents did nothing wrong?
Inexplicably, Alex and Anna are still vulnerable to future action by CPS for the “crime” of seeking the medical care for Sammy that they saw fit.
Welcome to Soviet Amerika comrades.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources: Judge Orders Transport of Baby Sammy to Stanford Medical Center
Baby Taken By CPS Returned, Parents Ordered To ‘Follow All Medical Advice’
It is a travesty that gross injustices like this could actually occur on U.S. soil! The staff at Sutter are to blame for setting this in motion, but the CPS, the local police, and the judge who decided this order are ALL completely trampling on these parents’ rights to decide what healthcare and what provider of that healthcare their child will receive!
“Soviet Amerika” Indeed! And the irony of the situation… Russian parents…
If you read the original article, there was a history of negligence in the child’s care and treatment at the hospital already. They did not want the child undergoing such a risky procedure without first getting another opinion that it was needed, and they SORELY did not want it done at THAT hospital!
I forgot to mention one more cardinal sin: What ever you do, don’t invite your neighbors to set down with you and eat a home cooked, traditional meal. Or else, those experts at the health department will swarm down on you with all their might and make you pour bleach on the food and throw it outside. That way even your dogs or pigs or chickens can’t eat this poisonous home made, cooked from scratch and lots of love food. Go to the golden arches, that’s where the real food is, if you like something that tastes like card board. We bureaucrats know what’s best for you weak minded conspiracy folks on the lookout for black helicopters on the horizon. When will you weak minded superstitious peasants realize we have your best interests at heart…Take your vaccines, your mercury fillings, and your trans fats and don’t make any trouble and we may let you raise your children as long as we brainwash them and tell them what to think. Home schooling is a terrorist activity and will not be allowed. Loving your children will not be allowed. This is the new world order.
It’s closer (and real) than most people think…
My heart breaks for them…
They need to move, ASAP!
Their child was being prepped for heart surgery and they took the baby and left without being discharged. Second opinions are ok but they went about it in a childish way and let’s face it, if an infant is about to undergo heart surgery and the parents just up and remove it from the hospital without proper discharge, they look like idiots!
They hospital REFUSED to discharge, Ashley.
They did NOT agree to the surgery!! Of course they took the baby away from being prepped for surgery, because they wanted a second opinion!! THAT IS NOT CHILDISH!! THEY DID NOTHING WRONG!! I can’t believe you are defending that hospital and the egotistical doctor who refused to be second-guessed!!
The hospital administered the wrong medication TWICE for the baby’s FLU symptoms, then wanted to cut the baby open?? And you say the PARENTS look like idiots??? Ashley- really…I can’t be that mean..I won’t say it..
Go somewhere and get help for your BRAINWASHING problem- do they have a clinic for that???
This is a wakeup call for you Ashley. Do your research and when you do I’m sure you won’t want to hand our rights over quite so easily. The parents are responsible for that child, not the hospital and not the state! There was no negligence on the parents part, quite the opposite which is obvious if you pay closer attention.
They didn’t go there for his heart. They went for his flu. There was no emergency regarding his heart. And please, use your brain, you’re not supposed to do surgery when you’re sick… like when you have the flu. I would take my baby away too, and I’d never use that hospital again.
Thank you…finally someone not applauding the verdict on Monday. The judge appeased the masses but many of us saw through the charade and condemn the actions of not only CPS but the Court as well.
I wonder if a family medical legal defense fund exists, akin to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, that could step in to support parents’ rights to oversee their children’s medical care. There is no difference between the corporatization and profiteering of Big Pharma and Big Medicine and the industrialization of food as evidenced by the escalating push to dictate the foods and medicines we choose.
If such a legal defense fund exists, we should all be contributing what we can to it.
I think you’re on the right track and they should be highly publicized as well as the cases where children who should be under CPS supervision lose their lives on a daily basis. Let’s get the real numbers out there
Hi Beth,
I don’t know about a medical defense, but I know one organization, Homeschool Legal Defense Association handles alot of cases regarding the rights of parents!
This is just horrible
That whole story just completely disgusts me. DISGUSTS ME!