Mom charged with murder, denying son medical treatment

[okarol]

Mom charged with murder, denying son medical treatment

April 24, 2009 10:06 PM

A local teenager is dead after his kidneys failed, but doctors say it didn't have to end that way.

His mother, Lena Marie Anderson now sits behind bars, charged with murder along with child abuse and neglect.

According to the declaration of warrant, Anderson made a "conscious decision" to stop treating her son for chronic kidney disease.

15-year-old Patrick Atkins had been suffering starting at a very young age, taking a list of medications and using a catheter.

Court papers show Anderson stopped taking her son to the doctor when he was 12-years-old, because she hoped maybe his condition would change on his own.

She allegedly told police she made that decision because she "was tired of fighting her son".

"You just don't do that. You treat a dog if they're suffering," said Judy Jenkins, who lived next door to Anderson and her son.

She tells us, she rarely saw the 15-year-old outside of the apartment, but he had an older brother who was often out and about.

Jenkins said the family was very quiet and kept to themselves. She had no idea what the teenage boy was going through.

"It's very alarming. It's way too close for comfort for me," she added. "You're a mother. You take care of your child. That's what we're here for."

The warrant says Anderson took her son to Southwest Medical less than two weeks before he died, to treat what was thought to be a urinary tract infection.

She reportedly never told doctors her son was suffering from chronic kidney disease because "they never asked".

We're told Anderson took her son to UMC because he had a bloody nose that would not stop. At that point, it was too late to turn back.

The doctor who was originally treating Patrick Atkins told police his death "would have been preventable". That's according to the warrant.

Police say Child Protective Services has been involved with this family back in 2002 and 2003: both for medical neglect.

Stay tuned to Channel 13 for the very latest.

http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=10247307

[MandaMe1986]

Oh my dear.  I don't know what to say. Part of me wants to know what in the world would cause a mother to do something like that. And part of me feels sorry for her.  She is living with the fact that she most likely killed her son.  I can't even begin to think about how that must feel. 

Just wow...

[jbeany]

The local news has been filled lately with reports of parents doing harm to the ones they are supposed to be protecting.  In the last month or so here in Michigan, we've had a case of a care-giver purposely scalding a 1 yr old boy to death in the bathtub, a 2 yr old girl whose mom purposely gave her a fatal overdose of morphine, a 6 yr old boy whose father and uncle decided to "punish" by putting a blowtorch to his buttocks, and just this week, an adopted 9 yr old quadriplegic girl found dead in a trash bag in her mother's storage unit.

It's a scary, confusing world out there.

[MandaMe1986]

All of those stories brake my hart.  I am sick now, just sick...

[Stacy Without An E]

One of the worst was that father who thought it would be funny to put a dog shock collar on his 4 year old.

That's right, he thought it was frickin' funny.

What I find interesting is whenever they show a picture of people like this, they just automatically look like criminals.  Freakish coincidence.

This is where my Eye for An Eye justice would work perfectly.  Place a dog collar on the father, place him in a fenced area and allow his kids to shock him repeatedly and see how funny it is.

[MandaMe1986]

I am not happy with eye for an eye.  I am for much worse. A man who is willing to do that to a son should suffer a slow and painful death.  I guess I just have a little evil in me. 

[glitter]

I wouldn't call  that evil MandaMe   

[MandaMe1986]

You know there are very few things that can throw me over the edge. And child abuse is one of them.   Any kind of abuse it doesn't matter the age, sex, kind. It is all wrong and I get all fired up about it all.  But child abuse is at the top of the list. Not only are you hurting a person. Your hurting an innocent child who can't do anything. It will stay with them for the rest of their life.  Some never get past it. It is just sad what kind of world we live in.

[Maxridex]

That is sooooo sad

[cedar]

It is difficult to withold treatment for kidney failure to anyone, even an adult.   

[KT0930]

You know, I'm "tired of fighting" my son too, but that's part of being a parent. You choose your battles, and you live life. Kidney disease is simply a battle you don't have a choice about. Unbelievable that someone could do this to their child!