Cancer teen's family sues Texas officals

Family members of a girl who was once taken from their custody after they refused radiation treatment for her cancer have filed a lawsuit alleging their constitutional rights were violated.

The lawsuit, filed May 31, claims state and county officials broke constitutional protections of privacy and unlawful search and seizure when they took custody of Katie Wernecke and her brothers without a search warrant or a hearing three years ago.

"The right of a family to remain together without the coercive interference of the government is a fundamental right protected," the lawsuit says.

It requests unspecified damages.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, would not comment on the claims.

"I will say that while Katie was in our care, we did everything according to the law and according to what we determined was in her best interest," Crimmins said.

Ed Wernecke, Katie's father, did not immediately return a call to his cell phone Tuesday. Family lawyer Charles Bundren said Katie, now 15, is doing well and attending school.

Katie Wernecke, of Agua Dulce, was 12 in January 2005 when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymph nodes. Her doctor contacted Child Protective Services, now the Department of Family and Protective Services, after her parents refused to allow radiation treatment.

The Werneckes had argued chemotherapy already killed the cancer and they feared the radiation would do more harm than good.

Officials went to Katie's home in June 2005 to remove her from her parents. They took her three brothers when they found she wasn't there. Nueces County sheriff officials later took Katie from a family ranch, where she was hiding with her mother.

The boys were ordered returned to the family after 10 days. Katie remained in foster care until November 2005, when a Corpus Christi judge ordered her returned to her family.

According to a family Web log, Katie has traveled extensively since 2005 for different treatments, including immunotherapy and an intravenous vitamin C treatment.

The cancer was in remission in September but reappeared in multiple spots in December. Bundren would not say Tuesday whether her cancer was again in remission.

source : news.yahoo.com