Connecticut Teen Who Was Forced To Undergo Chemo Is Now In Remission

Connecticut teenager Cassandra C. was forced to undergo chemotherapy by the state for her Hodgkin's lymphoma. The 17-year-old had originally refused treatments on the grounds that it was too harmful for her body and that a more natural alternative could work just as well.

Health officials, along with Cassandra, are now happy to report that her cancer has gone into remission.

"I was really happy," Cassandra said, via the Associated Press (AP). "It kind of made it a lot easier to accept everything that has gone on here."

The Department of Children and Families became involved with Cassandra's case not too long after her diagnosis last September when she missed several appointments and a judge awarded temporary custody of the teen to DFC. However, Cassandra and her mother fought with the organization for her daughter to have more natural drug treatments on the grounds that chemo would do more damage to her body than good.

Lawyers for the patient and her mother before the Connecticut Supreme Court argued that Cassandra was old enough to make her own medical decisions, also known as the "mature minor doctrine." However, in January, the high court ruled that her rights were not being violated if she was forced to have the treatment.

Now that the teen is doing much better, she said she doubts she'd put up this much of a fight if something like this happened.