The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state may continue to force a teenager to undergo chemotherapy treatments that could save her life.
The court said that attorneys for the girl — who is 17 and therefore still a minor — failed to prove that she is mature enough to make her own medical decisions.
The teen, identified in court documents as “Cassandra C,” was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in September. Medical experts have testified that Cassandra has an 85% chance of survival if treated with chemotherapy. Without it, doctors say, she likely will die within two years.
Cassandra’s attorney Josh Michtom visited her in the hospital after the hearing today.
“She’s disappointed and she’s frustrated that she’s in this one room…and she can’t leave,” Michtom said after the visit.
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Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most curable forms of cancer, according to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Chemotherapy is the common first-line treatment, the group says, and doctors usually combine four or more drugs that are delivered through a surgically placed catheter.
It is most common among young adults ages 15 to 40 and older adults over age 55, according to the American Cancer Society. Slightly more than 9,000 new cases are diagnosed per year in the United States.
Symptoms can include, but are not limited to, lumps under the skin, fatigue and enlarged lymph nodes.
CNN’s Nadia Kounang, Roni Selig and Jen Christensen contributed to this report.
