A Florida judge has denied parents the right to regain custody of their 4-year-old son with cancer after the couple stopped chemotherapy treatments earlier this year.
Noah McAdams was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia earlier this year. He was removed from his parents’ custody in April after they missed a chemotherapy session and left the state to seek alternative treatments.
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The ruling was announced Monday afternoon to parents Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ballby by Hillsborough County Judge Thomas Palermo. The parent stopped Noah’s chemotherapy two days into treatment.
The child will remain in the custody of his grandparents. However, the judge said the state still has the option of returning custody to the parents in the future. According to Palermo, the ruling was not a punishment but was instead to protect the child.
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McAdams and Bland-Ball turned to medical marijuana and CBD oil instead of chemotherapy. Bland-Ball said of her son in an August interview with Good Morning America:
“He had vicious mood swings, making him violent, making him very emotional, and he also started to lose his hair right away after the first treatment.”
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office had asked for the public’s help to locate the family after McAdams and Bland-Ball neglected to bring Noah to the hospital on April 22 for his chemotherapy appointment. McAdams and Bland-Ball had taken Noah to Kentucky to get a second opinion. The Sherriff’s Office wrote on Facebook:
“The parents have further refused to follow up with the life saving medical care the child needs. The parents have possible criminal child neglect charges pending.”
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The parents were located one week later after the plea from the Sheriff’s Office. The state of Florida placed Noah in the custody of his grandparents, who were ordered in May to resume chemotherapy.
Noah’s parents had requested the court to let them forgo chemotherapy in favor of alternative treatments, including medicinal cannabis, vitamins, and a dietary plan. They had previously informed doctors that they wanted to get a second opinion and seek alternatives.
Multiple hearings have been held since then, as McAdams and Bland-Ball battled to regain custody of their son.
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St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital states that approximately 98 percent of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia “go into remission within weeks of starting treatment.”
According to the family’s attorney, Noah has been receiving both the court-ordered chemotherapy and THC and CBD oil for about a month.
Palermo ruled that Bland-Ball and McAdams undergo psychological evaluations as a part of the process to potentially regain custody of Noah, their attorney said. They have thirty days to appeal the judge’s decision. A disposition hearing to discuss the Child Protective Services case plan for family reunification is on the docket for October 1, the lawyer said.
