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’
I agree with the judge ordering a 3rd opinion. The mother stated the baby does have a murmer… If one doctor says its time to operate and another doesnt I think the responsible thing to do is get a 3rd opinion.
Again, CPS needs to be removed from this situation, and that is an understatement. While determining a 3rd opinion may be advised in this situation it should not have been the judge’s or CPS’s decision being that these are clearly responsible parents which is demonstrated by the fact that they took their child from a clearly unstable situation (wrong prescriptions, no second opinion option, low information, coercion) to another hospital. Any responsible parent would have done the same thing.
Sue their butts and leave California PRONTO!
Heart murmur is hardly an emergency situation. The parents already had her under care for that. They took her in for “flu” symptoms.
I was amazed that the conventional media outlets were praising this judge’s decision. I was even more outraged after the learning about what happened in the hearing than I first learned about this story last week!
I agree
These cases will eventually put more children at risk, because there will be a baby somewhere that needs medical attention but the parents will not seek it fearing something like THIS^!!!! SMH
The bigger question IS: What are you going to do about it. This is just ONE example of the ‘same thing’ that is going on in different domains all over the country. Our liberties (freedom/privacy) is being destroyed. America is NO LONGER the land of the FREE. So, what’s the answer; because until we move forward there, NOTHING changes. What are ‘you’ going to do ‘today’?
What can we do about it?
Start here: http://www.parentalrights.org/ and here: http://www.hslda.org/
While HSLDA advocate for homeschooling they support rights of the parents.
What am I going to do about it?
1) Not take my children to a hospital unless their life truly depends on it.
2) DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR to CPS– especially if they do not have a search warrant! HSLDA has some excellent advice on situations like this!
3) I am armed in my home (gun). If someone should enter without a warrant, I will treat them as an intruder.
4) Have a plan to flee the country if a situation like this happens to me. This is something I am working on.
Here’s an article that tells more “diagnosis” details.
Brice I have read other articles that said the baby was indeed being prepped. So many different stories out there… If one hospital says a baby needs surgery and another says the baby doesnt, its common sense to get a 3rd opinion, especially with an alleged CHD. Be on the safe side…
@Ashley: The baby WAS NOT being PREPARED for heart surgery. Heart surgery was a ‘suggestion’…they went to get a second opinion. Did you actually ‘read’ the article?
this disgusts me! how horrifying to lose control over your own child