State judge tosses Parker Jensen suit

A 3rd District judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the parents of Parker Jensen against a group of doctors and state officials.

Barbara and Daren Jensen argued the state violated their parental rights by trying to force their son, Parker, into chemotherapy in 2003 for a cancerous tumor that was removed from under his tongue.

Judge Joseph C. Fratto ruled that the Jensens' constitutional claims were decided in September by a federal judge who tossed out a similar lawsuit.

Fratto said the Utah Constitution offers no additional or different rights than the U.S. Constitution.

The Jensens' attorney, Karra Porter, didn't return a call from The Associated Press on the ruling.

The Jensens sued two former University of Utah doctors, the former head of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, a state social worker and an assistant Utah attorney general for instigating a juvenile court custody order.

The custody order sought to put Parker, then 12, into treatment for a rare, aggressive form of cancer known as Ewing's sarcoma. Authorities said they believed the boy would die without treatment.

The Jensens refused the treatment and were later charged with medical neglect and kidnapping for taking Parker to Idaho, beyond the reach of Utah authorities. They settled those charges with a plea to misdemeanor custodial interference.

Porter had said genetic testing would have shown Parker did not have Ewing's sarcoma.

Parker's parents have said he remains healthy. He is a senior at a Sandy high school.

The parents sued Drs. Karen Albritton and Lars Wagner; Richard Anderson, who was head of the Division of Child and Family Services; social worker Kari Cunningham; and Susan Eiseman, a state lawyer. They were sued personally, not as officials with state agencies or the hospital.