Cancer treatment neglect case appealed

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WOOD) - A court battle is continuing for a family who decided to stop treating their son's cancer.

Ken and Erin Stieler of Marquette County decided last year to put their son Jacob's treatment on hold after scans showed no sign of cancer.

Jacob Stieler, who was 10 at the time, underwent three months of treatment in the spring of 2011 at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids for Ewing's sarcoma -- a rare type of cancer.

But Jacob, the family said, was becoming suicidal because of the treatments.

So when scans showed no sign of cancer, Erin and Ken decided they would not make him undergo further radiation treatment meant to keep the cancer from returning.

But the Department of Human Services is against that decision. DHS says that the Stielers are not acting in their son's best interest. The state filed medical neglect charges against the Stielers.

In December, it seemed like the matter was settled after a judge in Marquette threw out the case, saying that it was not something to be decided in court and that the Stielers had not been negligent in their decision.

But DHS has now taken the case to the Court of Appeals in Lansing.

Erin Stieler told 24 Hour News 8 that the family is "sick" that they are going back to court.

"It's disgusting," Erin said in a phone interview Tuesday night. "Their time and taxpayer money is better spent on children who actually need the help -- who are being neglected or abused."

Erin said Jacob's last scan in January was clean.

The Stielers have consistently said that that if any sign of Jacob's cancer came back, they would consider treatment options.