Justina Pelletier - The Ruling

"...psychological and clinical evaluations of the parents are necessary." 

The ruling regarding the future care of 15 year-old teen Justina Pelletier has been posted online.

Reading through the ruling one cannot help but to feel angry and frustrated that hearsay seems to be the basis upon which Judge Joseph Johnson arrived at his decision. He seems to have been convinced by apparent experts that Justina "suffers from a persistent and severe Somatic Symptom Disorder." I've yet to see any scientific evidence that such a disorder exists. If someone could point me to brain images of this disorder then I'd be eternally grateful.

Judge Johnson has accepted the word of mental health, he has taken it at face value. It's akin to a prosecutor in a criminal trial claiming to have the murder weapon...then, once asked by the Judge to produce it, tells the Judge that he doesn't have it in his possession but he saw it...ergo it must exist.

Furthermore, it now appears that Justina's parents have come under the scrutiny of the psychiatric 'guesswork' profession.

"...psychological and clinical evaluations of the parents are necessary." 

Is fighting for your child now deemed as a mental illness?

The one thing this case has highlighted is how mental health likes to widen the net. Lou and Linda Pelletier have, for the past 14 months been fighting to regain custody of their daughter, and rightly so. If they hadn't have been fighting for her then I would probably suggest that they had some sort of callous disorder. In truth, they have done what any parent, under the same circumstances, would have done. To try and label their 'natural response' as a mental disorder shows exactly how the field of mental health works.

Disagree with da man in da white coat at your peril. Show defiance against a mental health diagnosis and you too will be labelled with a disorder... or at the very least be psychologically and clinically evaluated!

Here's the ruling... Faxed by Judge Joseph Johnson. [Click on images to enlarge]

Please use the hashtag #FreeJustina when tweeting this post.

Bob Fiddaman


Back Stories:

Boston Children’s Hospital - A Prison For Children

Justina Pelletier: A Pawn in a Psychiatric Game of Chess

Marriott Hotels and the Case of Justina Pelletier

Car Trouble (Justina Pelletier)

Justina Pelletier - Condition Deteriorates

Judge Joseph Johnson delivers blow to the family of Justina Pelletier

Judge Joseph Johnson delivers blow to the family of Justina Pelletier

Judge Joseph Johnson delivered a blow to the family of Justina Pelletier earlier today when he ruled that Justina Pelletier remain in “permanent” custody of the state agency, furthermore it will now be up to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families [DCF] to decide if and when the 15-year-old will be returned to her parents custody.

Kind of ironic given that it was the DCF who removed Justina from her parents care back in February 2013.

Earlier this week Justina's sister, told Fox CT that "she has never seen her in worse condition."

Jennifer Pelletier said, “Her physical appearance, just from seeing her, it’s scary.  Her legs are more swollen. They’re cold to the touch. She has no feeling in her feet,” Jennifer said on air here.

Almost 14 months ago Justina Pelletier was being treated for mitochondrial disease, a genetic disorder that affects muscle tissue, by doctors at Tufts Medical Center. She was admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital when she came down with the flu. Doctors at BCH disagreed with the Tufts doctors and diagnosed her with somatoform disorder, a mental illness. At no stage have Boston Children’s Hospital offered any concrete evidence that supports their diagnosis.

I challenge them to show the evidence that Justina has a mental illness... this is something Judge Joseph Johnson should have done.

One doesn't have to be Einstein to see how Justina's health has deteriorated during her spell under the care of the government [images below]

Thousands of people on Twitter have expressed their outrage at Judge Joseph Johnson's ruling and many are vowing that they will step up a gear in seeking justice for Justina and the Pelletier family.

Justina's case has captured the hearts of thousands of people worldwide, the majority of whom being sickened by this latest in the Justina Pelletier saga. There has been an outpouring of support on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

This news comes as no surprise to me. When Mental Health Services pry into family matters there really is only ever one outcome. Label the child with a mental disorder, drug them and/or, in the case of many, remove them from their family home.

Justina has been diagnosed as having somatoform disorder, an apparent mental illness where the subject feels pain but no physical cause is found. The pain is, according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, thought to be due to psychological problems.

Notice the use of the word 'thought'?

In truth, somatoform disorder is nothing but a theory, it's not an actual disease of the brain. Ask any psychiatrist if somatoform disorder, or any other disorder for that matter, can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

I suspect that Justina Pelletier is wondering why she is still not with her parents tonight, I suspect her parents are baffled, nae devastated by this latest ruling.

All those involved in the care and well-being of Justina Pelletier have failed and they have failed on a catastrophic level.

As for Judge Joseph Johnson, he would have been aware of Justina's deteriorating condition under the 'care' of the government. He would have seen the photos that have circulated over the internet during the past month or so. One has to ask why he has deemed that the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families is the best place for Justina.

A petition to the white house demanding a criminal investigation into Massachusetts DCF and BCH needs just two more signatures to reach the goal of 100,000 by April 24.

Bob Fiddaman

Back Stories:

Boston Children’s Hospital - A Prison For Children

Justina Pelletier: A Pawn in a Psychiatric Game of Chess

Marriott Hotels and the Case of Justina Pelletier

Car Trouble (Justina Pelletier)

Justina Pelletier - Condition Deteriorates