Indiana Family Suing CPS For The Freedom To Treat Their Daughter With CBD

A family from Indiana, the Jergers, have recently launched a lawsuit against CPS, fighting for the freedom to make the medical decisions for their daughter.

Doctors allegedly reported the family to CPS over their actions to attempt treating their epileptic daughter with CBD oil. In the state of Indiana, CBD oil has been approved for treatment in some strict medical cases.

However, their daughter's specific form of epilepsy was not one which authorities deemed worthy of obtaining the substance.

Jade and Lelah Jerger have five children and their daughter, Jaelah, was diagnosed in 2017 with having myoclonic epilepsy. At just 6 months old, their daughter started having seizures and can potentially suffer from multiple seizures every day. The doctors allegedly told the family that they needed to begin putting their daughter on the medication Keppra as soon as possible.

According to the doctors, they thought that the parents were medically neglecting their daughter.

The Jergers were concerned about the potential side effects of the medications that were suggested for Jaelah and so they went looking for a variety of alternatives that they might want to explore. Along their journey to try and find something that would help, they allegedly found their way to a functional wellness center where a neurologist had suggested they try CBD oil. And after that, the family says that the results were seen immediately.

Prior to using CBD, their daughter was having up to 30+ seizures a day

According to the Jerger family, once they notified doctors that they wanted to explore the possibility of CBD oil, they were subject to many calls and appointments. Eventually, CPS showed up and they told the family that their daughter needed to be on Keppra. With Keppra, some of the side effects are alleged to be anger, anxiety, dizziness, weakness, drowsiness, mood changes, and aggression.

The caseworkers allegedly threatened the family that their daughter would be taken away if she wasn't put on Keppra and so she did at one point begin the drug and caseworkers required the parents to submit weekly blood tests to confirm that she was indeed on Keppra. It is those blood tests which the family says constituted a non-consensual search and seizure which violates their Constitutionally-protected natural rights.

The family says that they have since cut all of their ties with the children's hospital that was involved and they have sought other opinions.

A JusticeforJaelah social media campaign has now been initiated and the family has launched a lawsuit against Child Protective Services claiming that they wrongfully obtained a blood sample from Jaelah. The family has been working with the help of a neurologist on their CBD journey. That neurologist has allegedly suggested that Jaelah be placed on a hemp oil CBD because she doesn't meet the rigid criteria to lawfully make it onto the state's cannabis-derived CBD approved list.

Looking For help

The family has started a GoFundMe account and they are looking for some help to pay for the cost of this fight. So far they've raised almost half of their overall $5000 goal. They will also be chronicling their journey on their Facebook page. The ACLU of Indiana is representing the family in their lawsuit against the case workers who were said to be involved. They reportedly hope that the case ends up going to trial so that they can raise awareness about this injustice. And if their effort to fight back can help any other family retain the freedom to make medical decisions for their family then that makes it even more worth it, they say.

Just a few weeks ago, low-level THC CBD oil was approved for legalization in the state of Indiana.

What a nightmare that this family has been put through when all they were trying to do was make the best decision for their daughter and their family. And there are many others like them around the United States and elsewhere in the world, people who are forced to risk their freedom to consume or obtain a natural substance etc that should be fully within their rights to ingest or do what they want with so long as it is peaceful and harms no one else.

Pics:
Facebook via Dailymail
NBC news

Sources:
https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/CBP-Helped-Treat-Toddlers-Seizures-State-Threatened-to-Take-Her-Away-480396373.html
https://herb.co/marijuana/news/cps-indiana-cbd-oil-epilepsy
https://nowthisnews.com/videos/weed/indiana-parents-who-use-cbd-are-suing-child-protective-services
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5687387/Doctors-report-parents-CPS-treating-epileptic-toddler-daughter-CBD-oil.html
https://duboiscountyherald.com/b/parents-fight-to-make-medical-decisions-for-daughter
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/02/06/family-sues-cps-workers-who-investigated-after-they-gave-toddler-cbd-oil-treat-seizures-sues-cps-wor/310433002/
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/helpless-only-treatment-their-baby-s-epileptic-seizures-was-illegal-n867626
https://www.msn.com/fr-ca/sante/other/doctors-call-cps-on-indiana-parents-for-using-cannabis-oil-treatment-on-ailing-daughter/vp-AAwFeXi
https://www.gofundme.com/jaelahs-attorney-fees
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/21/cbd-oil-now-legal-indiana-after-nearly-year-confusion/447431002/

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