3 institutions diagnosed boy with sarcoma, Utah office says

POCATELLO — A four-page statement released by the Office of the Guardian Ad Litem Monday says that three different medical institutions diagnosed Parker Jensen with Ewing's sarcoma — all of which recommended chemotherapy as the only treatment option that might save the 12-year-old's life.

The Jensens have "not come forward with a single piece of medical evidence" that shows the diagnosis is incorrect or have offered viable treatment options, the statement reads.

The guardian ad litem is a state agency that bears the responsibility of ensuring that the rights of children are protected in court.

"I stand by everything in the statement," said Mollie McDonald, an attorney in the office assigned to the Jensens' case who signed the document. Frustrated by what she called erroneous media reports, McDonald said it was she who asked the juvenile court to lift a gag order imposed on the case. That order was lifted late Friday, she said.

But Daren and Barbara Jensen said that the information in the guardian ad litem statement is erroneous. The Sandy couple disputes an initial cancer diagnosis from Primary Children's Medical Center.

The hospital could only say that Ewing's sarcoma was "suspected" and that doctors were only sure that Parker had "micrometastatic disease," which indicates that some undetectable cancer cells were present in his system, Daren and Barbara Jensen said.

"We wanted more tests and more information before making a decision," Barbara Jensen said.

The Jensens also said that a second opinion from the Los Angeles Children's Hospital was a "rubber stamp" because the data sent from Primary Children's was incomplete.

Daren Jensen showed the Deseret Morning News a copy of a July 10 court document obtained by his attorney that compelled Primary Children's to send tissue samples and other test results to the L.A. hospital. Jensen said that was obtained because the hospital had refused a verbal request. Only July 21, when the Jensens arrived in Los Angeles, the doctor there said the information had not been made available.

The Jensens said they were unaware of any test results from the Los Angeles hospital or from the University of Washington Medical Center Pathology Department. They questioned why the state of Utah would have medical information about their son that they do not have.

"I consider that malpractice," Daren Jensen said.