Father Rejects Chemo on 8 year-old Unwilling to Fight | Chicago Med | MD TV 

I actually think the dad was really brave to let his son choose to end treatment. That would be difficult for any parent, but he trusted his child.

Dr. Manning always puts her emotions first. Heartbreaking as it is, it was the kid's decision.

I'd understand the doctor's point of view if it weren't the kids 4th try on chemo. 4 times is enough to be done with

As a kid with chronic illness, he can absolutely decide his fate. He can understand what death is.

unless you have been through these treatments, you have no right to say who or who not gets to stop fighting. not everyone is built for war.

I feel so bad for the Dad in this. The kid too, but like. His kid's mom died, now his kid is dying, and the way the staff went about forcing this... just awful.

Wow. The "everyone has there time to live, ive had mine, now i wanna see whats next" line from the kid was astonishing and wise and showed that he really did understand the reality of his tough decision. Not many kids how that kind of insite

After seeing people with PTSD after one round of chemo as kids when they say no it’s probably time to stop.

As a Lymphoma stage 4 survivor, I know there comes a time when the disease takes so much out of the patient by pain and exhaustion they decide to have palliative care only.

The worst part is the father probably didn’t give in to his kids wishes right away. I’m sure he had to take time to think critically about this and discuss with his son the implications of that choice, not to mention having to deal emotionally with the idea of watching your son pass away. Who knows how long it took him to get to this place and now he’s in handcuffs.

Lost my leg to bone cancer as a child, these kids do know their own strength and what they want to keep trying or not trying. I had to choose to have my leg amputated at 12years old, brain developed or not. Only person that can choose to fight is the one with skin in the game.

Kids are smarter than people think!!! The poor kid has suffered enough!!! He deserves to make his own decisions!!!!

Many years ago my family knew a little girl who dealt with a heart condition her whole life. They tried everything. By age 10 or 11, she had had enough-- told her parents no more surgeries or treatments of any kind. Her parents RESPECTED her wishes because they knew she was mentally tapped out and ready to go to heaven. She died shortly after, and obviously it was tragic, but there was a huge peace because she wasn't suffering anymore.

The problem with being a doctor and allowing your emotions to rule you is you think that you're thinking of others, but you're not. For a child to go through that over and over again, it would have been torture, and cruelty at it's finest; to endure all that pain for nothing. She's not thinking of how that bow must have begged his father to stop the trials and how it is killing his father inside to see his only family dying in front of him.

The title of this video is so disrespectful. This has nothing to do with the kid being “unwilling to fight”. We need to stop with that false battle narrative around cancer. Sometimes knowing when to stop curative treatment and start palliative care is the bravest and wisest thing a patient and their doctor can do. Happy to see so many people in the comments realise this.

Putting children thru chemo over and over is the abuse. 😢

Five minutes and 10 seconds, that little boy understand life and death better than that grown woman who is a medical doctor like he said everyone has his time everyone without exception.

It is really awful when other people decide what you should do with your life and your own body.

Can we talk about the actor who plays the dad’s voice? DAYUM.

Imagine how much the father must love him to let him go so he won’t be in pain

The bravest thing a parent can do is to know when you’re no longer helping your child but hurting them. This father could see his son was done being in pain every day that’s not living.

It seems like this that upset me so much as a parent because doctors nurses and people in the hospital always assume the worst they assume because this young man decisions were respected his father was weak opposed to understanding that maybe his father had just gotten strong enough to listen to what his son wanted and his weakest moments how about that

We would all do well to remember that there’s a difference between prolonging life and postponing death…

When a Father says his child _“does understand,”_ that means his child _“does understand.”_

Hospice would be the best thing for this kid in a real-world situation.

he has every right to decide what he wants no matter how old he is. he knows what he can handle better than anyone else, and his father is incredible for supporting his decision no matter how painful it was

I knew someone in high school who was battling cancer through his whole childhood. He was always missing school and in pain. I dont know how many time he went into remission, but it never lasted long. It sucked. He'd grow out his hair, only to have it fall out again...

The kid made a clear conscious decision. Just because he’s 8 doesn’t mean he can’t decide it’s time for palliative care.

The doc needs to realize her boundaries and that people can understand and make their own decisions!! Just waiting for an episode when she goes through a huge trauma and see what she chooses!

April and Manning both would have been fired before the end of their first episode irl

Have they never heard of pediatric hospice care?

If the kid wants to give up, let him. It's been 4 tries. It's time to give up.

I get the hate for manning on this, but can we talk about how April forced mannings hand with DCFS? If I found out that they had that discussion as the father I’d have sued them into oblivion. Especially saying I don’t care about what the MRI says. Aprils always a jackass.

The way she acted like this kid on chemo of all things didn’t even know how death works infuriated me 😭

I dunno if I'd be as relieved as that dad was. Still could possibly lose his son, as it's not confirmed he's actually getting better, now on top of a huge medical bill, he has court fees, and will probably never see his son again. If I were him, the hospital would be in for a lawsuit for millions. Before everyone says it I know it's a TV show.

If they were so concerned with his ability to make this choice why didn't they get a psychiatrist refferal. And April saying "I don't care" should've been a clear indication that she was letting her emotions and desires get in the way.

That nurse should have minded her business! It wasn’t her call

There was a video I saw recently that was a terminally ill person addressing a comment about them going into hospice/end of life care that was asking them to not give up. They said that entering hospice was not "giving up" it was the end of the line. Their body didn't have anything left to fight with and they had run out of treatment options. Dying is not giving up, its giving in when there's no way left forward.

Dr. Manning always lets her emotions get the better of her

April acting like she knows more than the doctor..

Every patient has their limits. The pain. The suffering. The countless hospitalizations. More than a dozen or more meds is literally suffocating. And some people reach a point where they would rather die peacefully then keep fighting an exhausting painful battle.

Dr.Manning constantly acts against her patient's request when she disagrees with their rational. Rule one is "do no harm" in medicine and she fails, lots of malpractice lawsuits in real life and probable suspensions would result. Dont act against your patient's requests or their power of attorney.

that kid is an amazing actor! i hope he goes places in life because his performance has me bawling like a little baby.

This is so sad for the boy and the father. He loves his son so much!

The whole mantra or whatever if being a doctor is you advocate for the patient. You find balance between what they want and what they need. The kid has been through this 4 times, and his body had absolutely degraded each and every time, it’s not about surviving anymore, it’s about quality of life, and that kid deserves to be pain free the rest of the time he has with his dad.

dr. manning and her "i am a mom, clearly i know everything and am better than every other parent out there" logic is so exhausting.

An 8 year old knows that it isn't working and that he doesn't want to go through it anymore. There are things worse than death.

Forcing someone to continue treatment when it really won’t make a difference is terrible. He knows his outcome.

Until you've been through a medical crisis of your own, doctors should just step back and accept when it's time to check out

The child understands pain and suffering.

I had a friend give up at 15. It wasnt working and hed had enough and chose no more treatment. I know this kid is 8 but after that many times i think he understands enough

2:28 yea as someone who had to learn about the concept of death at two, a typical 8 year old can most definitely understand the permanency of the concept of death.

Why is it that the last video where Manning dealt with a child cancer patient, she was concerned with letting her emotions get in the way? You'd think she learned something from that.

The thing about kids 'not understanding' is because many parents dont try to explain it in a way kids can understand it or even bother to explain it because they are to supposedly too young. Especially if a child has cancer, you shouldnt really try to hide what he has and might go through, i mean the child is in pain and wants it to stop, and i doubt any parents wouldnt try to explain to them they would die if they stopped.

I am amazed one of Manning’s patients hasn’t sued her yet… Have they? I haven’t watched the show in a bit

As long as the patient’s and his/her guardian fully understands the consequences of their actions if they opt out of treatment, it’s still their choice.

it's ridiculous that they would go ahead and arrest him for medical neglect when (a) it was the child's choice to refuse treatment, dad wasn't neglecting him at all and (b) not taking the chemo actually made him BETTER. medical neglect is more like my MIL's first oncologist who postponed her PET scans until she lost consciousness in her bathroom and had to have a bone marrow transplant.

The nurse saying "I don't care" and pushing the doctor like that.. it really scared me as a patient. The fact she just wants to follow protocol without really understanding the kid and the dad is terrible. I get it's a tough call and she just wants to save her patient, but please respect the parents and the devastating situation.

In the hospital, the patient child has no right to make his decision. It’s ALWAYS up to his parents. You have the power to make your own medical decisions at the age of 18.

In no world would that father EVER get arrested for that. Absolute bs.

Manning listened to the kid for once, it was that other doctor that was way out of line.

That boy was very well spoken and wise for his age. He understood his situation completely and just wanted to be free from the pain and suffering. He wanted to spend what time he had not suffering so he could enjoy it. I admire him.

hes a smart kid its sad to see him giving up

Good to see dad respecting his son wishes hope Gabe gets better

As some who watched countless family members and friends die of cancer. I understand completely that this kid doesn't want anymore treatment. He doesn't want to go through anymore pain and sickness. Chemo is nothing but a poison anyway. He and his dad deserve to decide what treatments he gets and what treatments he does want. This nurse is the worst kind of person and shouldn't be in medicine period. This kid deserves to die with what dignity he has left. He is right everyone has their chance to live and everyone has their chance to die. Kids understand a lot of things that most adults don't. And see things that most adults miss. Even the Bible says; "For everything there is a season. A time to live and a time to die." For goodness sake let this kid leave life on his terms and with his dignity.

U know the sad part is that child never got to grow up and yes ik it's a show but I feels so real

April always got her way, no matter how selfish or how many times she had to blackmail someone… and it never went wrong enough for her to reconsider. That kid knew EXACTLY what was happening, but April couldnt get past herself to see it.

Y'all, I actually watched this episode and it infuriated me so much. Sorry to give spoilers but at the end, April apologized to Dr. Manning about it and blamed her pregnancy emotions on it. Nah, you owe the father an apology. I know this is just a show but jeez

They were out of line smh

This 8 year old is as done with life as most gen-z

This is unethical of the medical staff. It is perfectly reasonable to allow a terminally ill patient to choose comfort over the torture of chemo. Plenty of older people with cancer make that choice. It's not child abuse unless the dad was deliberately trying to kill the child, which he obviously wasn't. The child should be put on hospice care and his life should be lived out to the fullest while he still can.

They didn't know anything about that childs treatments and what he went thru because treatment doesn't always effect everyone the same. And they kind of made it seem like he didn't even try at all just because they didn't see it. Calling CPS and having him arrested was too much. Considering chemo doesn't always work you could just be poisoning yourself until the end. Not always but the person who is receiving it should have atleast some say in it.

I did my PhD at a children’s hospital in the UK. There was a weekly lecture series and one talk was on consent and assent. In the UK, consent is 16. So the speaker challenged the black and white of consent. A 15 year old, one day shy of their 16th birthday could have their wishes overruled by a parent/guardian, but a day later suddenly they’re adult enough to consent? Then comes more grey area; what if the 16 year old had learning or other mental difficulties that made them more immature? Would the age of consent still apply? The other side is children going through medical procedures. They can assent to proceed or not proceed. A good parent would agree with the assent, if they knew the child understood the meaning of their decision. And this can be as small a procedure as a blood test to chemotherapy. Any good doctor or nurse would take the child’s opinion into account, even children as young as 8. There are parents, and in this case doctors, who disregard children’s wishes because they think they know best and to save the child despite history of treatment not working and the child suffering more because of it.

The fathers voice is super deep

Tbh i dont actually think its Mannings fault this time April literally forced her hand in this

This was a case of severe overreach which happens often in hospitals.

This is so sad, yet amazing!!

Did they end up forcing him to go through chemo again or were they able to convince child services that the chemo isn't needed and get the father released?

I agree with the patient and his family, after 4 futile tries of chemo its obvious this cancer didnt come to lose that battle and all you're doing is making this kid's final days unnecessarily excruciating

😭wow! What a performance. By the dad and the boy. And the Dr too when she yelled commanding they listen.

The way she was speaking to that child, as if he was stupid and didn’t understand death? My 3 year old niece understands death. That made me sad for him.

Wow this was so awful, he was a great Father & and he saved his son from his impending doom just to be arrested..

This is so sad. 😭😭😭💔💔💔

Haiya I'm back to House. These kid doctors are turning the medical show into a drama.

As a parent, this is so very difficult. We dont want to see our children in pain, but we also trust them to know how much they can handle. What a tough choice, horrible outcome, but one of relief for the young soul that suffered so much.

April was out of line, I never liked her.

I am now crying it’s so sad and happy

I wouldn't do it even to " buy time" that time you're buying is just more poking, prodding and torture. Who would want that for a child, or anyone else?

Doctors make a vow to not harm. For a child to go through agonizing pain and having to constantly face death over & over again after they requested to be let go is agony. It doesn’t matter their age you can’t force someone to live a painful life.

if the parent is honoring his childs wishes i don't think they have any legal ground to get involved no ?

The Dad has a charming voice

I Am So Sorry For Your Loss 🕊 ♥️ 🤍 🙏 ❤️ Rest In Peace 🕊 🤍 🙏 ❤️ ♥️

Dcfs has too much power

why did this have to be so sadddd

That is a wise child

I almost cried

That father is a dad and that dad is a real man! We need more fathers dads and men like this

its not fair at any age to suffer that way, an 8 year old should be an 8 year old. He didnt want to be stuck that way anymore 🕊️🕊️

Awesome episode, with an ironic ending!!! Stopping chemo saved the childs life!!!

Ok 5:07 i don't want THAT? Gape and his father didn't ask for your opinion Natalie..