Judge rules 3-year-old boy with cancer must receive chemo despite parents’ wishes of wanting to use alternative treatments

A Florida judge has ruled that a 3-year-old child with cancer must receive chemotherapy treatment despite his parents' wishes to treat the toddler with only alternative medicine.

What's the background?

Doctors diagnosed Noah McAdams with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in April.

The child's parents, Taylor Bland-Ball and Joshua McAdams, allowed their son to go through just one out of three rounds of chemotherapy before they decided to declare him well. Bland-Ball and McAdams credited their child's miraculous "healing" to vitamins, holistic remedies, and dietary changes.

They then fled to Kentucky with Noah after discovering that family services planned to take away the child — who was in desperate need of medically necessary care. Bland-Ball and McAdams said that they were planning to seek other methods of treatment while in Kentucky.

The family returned to Florida, and the couple lost custody of the child as a result of their inaction. According to CNN, a judge ruled that the child would remain in the custody of the state but would be permitted to live with his grandmother.

What's happening now?

A Hillsborough County judge ruled Wednesday that Noah would continue chemotherapy through its first phase of treatment.

The judge ruled that Bland-Ball and McAdams are welcome to seek alternative treatments in conjunction with their child's chemotherapy, CNN reported. Noah's parents insisted that they wanted to treat their son's cancer with just medicinal cannabis, vitamins, and diet.

The child is scheduled for two more chemotherapy sessions to complete the treatment's first phase. The child will then have bone marrow testing to determine further treatment.

Mike Minardi, an attorney for the family, said that Noah's parents are pleased that they can have a hand in their son's treatment.

"We're just happy the child gets to use alternative treatment, at a minimum to combat side effects of chemotherapy and at a maximum, help cure the leukemia in his body," Minardi said.

Bland-Ball and McAdams are due back in court on June 4-5.