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, like everyone else leaving comments, am outraged. But is there anyone reading this that knows of some step that can be taken to assemble and present all our protests to some relevant organization? Please excuse my ignorance, but is there a governmental department that is in charge of CPS? What can we do to band together an make our outrage known??
I have seen things go bad when you don’t have the best people holding government jobs. In my area, there are too many right wingers who want to hire the worst people out there to do jobs that require a fair amount of thought and professional behavior. I have sometimes seen the law enforcement department become the private armies for those who have connections. But we all must remember that the government includes we the people. We have the ability to elect smart people into government office. Electing smart people will allow us to hire people that have the smarts and common sense to make good decisions. I feel the parents didn’t do things that threaten the life of the child. I feel the main reason to have government is to make sure that others don’t threaten the lives and rights of others. That is something that is being forgotten on both sides of the political isle.
They had every right to a second opinion. Been there done that 🙂 There is a hospital I wont let TOUCH my daughter
So glad I have Kaiser. You’d think the state would have learned it’s lesson in protecting children after the Jaycee Dugard lawsuit, but apparently not.
This story is beyond heart breaking!!! Just look at these loving people who have been deprived of their child for so long – and think of the emotional toll this must have taken on the child as well – missing out on all of the love the parents would have bestowed. This is criminal – the madness needs to stop – people, we have to stop this – what can we do?
Ashley, I realize that, my daughter also had one and most are pretty common. but she was already under care for that. She went in for a different situation and they were treating her against the parents wishes. What were the antibiotics for? The nurse said she didn’t even know why they were giving the baby antibiotics. If you watch the interview they said they admitted giving her antibiotics was a mistake. Why would you trust a facility that gave an unnecessary treatment to your child? Then the heart surgery issue came up and they asked to have a second opinion. The trust was lost. The doc did not like that and threatened them. So they left to go second hospital and CPS was called before they could even get there. who are we to say how many opinions they need anyway? It’s not like they were ignoring the problem, they wanted a different facility and doctor because of the mistakes they had already made at the first facility. Seems reasonable to me.
I do know that if one has a heart defect/murmer, everything can be “fine” and then certain viruses (such as the flu) can attack the heart and make things go South very quickly. When my daughter had her heart surgery, there was a girl in ICU with us, she had a murmer, was being monitored, got the flu, one hospital said she was fine, parents took her to Dallas for 2 opinion, the flu had attacked her heart and she was on ECMO (bypass) for daaaaaays because her heart was in such bad shape at that point.
I couldnt get that video to load
So the baby does need surgery?
If a baby has a heart defect it shouldnt even be a discussion. Kiiiiiiind of a big deal.
Perhaps CPS should monitor your child to be sure that you are making all of the ‘proper’ choices for your baby? Perhaps they should step in, call the police who can then shove your husband to the wall and forcibly take your child and then tell you if you should get 1st, 2nd and 3rd opinions.