An Oregon judge has canceled a court-ordered surgery for a 13-year-old girl with a rare liver cancer after her mother ran away with her and tried to treat her with unproven CBD oil ‘therapy’.
Kylee Dixon, of Wilsonville, was diagnosed with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma in March 2018 and doctors recommended she be treated with chemotherapy and surgery.
Without these treatments, they said she would die.
Her mother, Christina, 35, claimed the traditional treatments weren’t working, but that a mix of herbs, vitamins and CBD oil shrunk the tumor by 90 percent – despite no evidence suggesting that any of these methods are effective.
She went on the run with Kylee for seven days in June before they were found in Nevada and the teenager was turned over to the custody of the state – and Christina turned herself in in August.
The state had scheduled surgery to remove the tumor on Friday, but that was halted by the judge.
KGW 8 reported that the judge also granted Christina permission to pull out of an agreement she had made that gave Oregon control over Kylee’s treatment.
A judge has halted a state-ordered surgery for Kylee Dixon, 13, of Wilsonville, Oregon that officials say is needed to treat her rare liver cancer. Pictured: Kylee, left, with her mother
Last month, her mother, Christina Dixon, 35, turned herself in to police after losing a bid to treat her daughter’s cancer with alternative methods. She was charged with custodial interference and criminal mistreatment. Pictured: Dixon with Kylee, left, and in her booking photo, right
The judge also granted Christina permission to pull out of an agreement she had made that gave Oregon control over Kylee’s treatment. Image courtesy of KOIN
Kylee was rushed to Providence Portland Medical Center in February 2018 after she complained that she was in extreme pain, according to KGW 8.
Doctors discovered she had a mass on her liver that had ruptured, causing Kylee to internally bleed.
She was diagnosed in March with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma, a rare liver cancer that mostly occurs in children.
Scientists are unsure of what causes the cancer, but know that the cancerous cells grow early in a fetus’s development.
Symptoms often include a swollen stomach, belly pain, nausea and vomiting, fever, diarrhea and a loss of appetite.
The cancer accounts for between two percent and 15 percent of all liver cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The five-year-survival rate is 92 percent for those who are treated with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy.
Kylee began undergoing grueling chemotherapy at Oregon Health and Science University – which Dixon said was hard to watch.
‘The best way I can describe it is like my kid was on death row,’ she told KGW 8. ‘Every single time – you literally feel your kid’s life getting taken away.’
After six months, Dixon convinced doctors to discharge Kylee so she could take her home, which is when she began turning to alternative medicine.
Dixon treated Kylee with a mix of vitamin herbs and pure CBD oil, which she claims reduced her daughter’s tumor by 90 percent.
A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2017 found that cancer patients who were treated only with alternative medicine had a 250 percent higher risk of death than patients who chose standard care.
On June 6, Kylee and her mother did not show up for a scheduled surgery,
The next day, the state intervened and the Clackamas County Circuit Court issued a pickup order for Kylee and demanded she be placed in the custody of the Oregon Department of Human Services.
Kylee (pictured) underwent chemotherapy for six months at Oregon Health and Science University before Dixon brought her home
Dixon treated her daughter’s cancer with herbs, vitamins and CBD oil and claimed the tumor was reduced by 90 percent. After failing to bring Kylee in for a scheduled surgery in June, a court order was issued demanding Kylee be turned over to the state’s custody. Pictured, left and right: Kylee in the hospital
‘The mother has elected to treat child’s cancer exclusively with CBD oil, which is not a medically recognized treatment for the disease with which child has been diagnosed,’ Clackamas County senior deputy district attorney Christine Landers wrote in court documents viewed by KGW 8.
‘[It] will have no efficacy in treating child’s cancer, and child’s medical team and specialists in pediatric oncology have stated that without further treatment child will die of the disease, which creates a risk of harm to the child.’
Dixon fled with her daughter and the Wilsonville Police Department sent out an advisory asking for help in finding Kylee.
Three days later, the mother-and-daughter pair were found at the Longhorn Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kylee was taken into protective custody, but her mother was not arrested at the time because there were ‘no probable cause charges’.
Dixon and her supporters called the state’s decision ‘medical kidnapping’.
Dixon went on the run with her daughter before they were tracked down in Nevada and Kylee was placed with a foster family. Pictured: Kylee, left, with her mother
The next court hearing about the state-ordered surgery will be on October 4. Pictured: Kylee, left, with her mother
Nearly four in 10 Americans believe alternative therapies on their own can cure cancer, despite a lack of scientific evidence, according to a 2018 survey from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
And the American Cancer Society recommends using alternative treatments only as a complement to traditional methods.
Kylee has reportedly said that she does not want to undergo surgery and wants to resume using CBD oil – which she had been taken off of.
Last month, a judge ruled that state child welfare workers can make medical decisions for Kylee rather than Dixon.
‘I’m not a doctor,’ said Judge Heather Karabeika, according to Oregon Live. ‘I let medical professionals handle what they think is most appropriate given their experience and knowledge.’
Dixon turned herself in to police in August and was charged with custodial interference and criminal mistreatment. She has since been released.
The next court hearing will be held on October 4.