No fair shake, Jensens complain

Parker Jensen could probably go to any hospital, anywhere in America and never get what he and his parents so desperately want: an independent, unbiased evaluation of the 12-year-old boy's medical condition, his mother said Saturday.

The Boise doctor who met with the family on Friday had already spoken with doctors from Primary Children's Medical Center and told the Jensens that he agrees that chemotherapy is the required treatment for Ewing's sarcoma, Barbara Jensen said. The rare form of bone cancer showed up in test results of a nodule taken from the boy's mouth last April.

"It's not a legitimate second opinion," Barbara Jensen said in a telephone interview. "I don't think Parker is going to get a fair shake anywhere in the United States because everybody knows us and (the doctor) is not going to stray because if he's not going to follow the cookbook, they might pull his license."

Parker Jensen said Saturday that he told Dr. Martin Johnston he didn't want chemotherapy.

"He didn't really say anything after that," said Parker. "That's pretty much what I was expecting … but I know what I want and it's my life and it should be my choice."

But Parker and his parents — Daren and Barbara Jensen of Sandy — are bound by a Sept. 5 juvenile court agreement to comply with whatever treatment Johnston prescribes. If they don't, the couple stands to lose custody of Parker to the state of Utah for the second time.

Utah's Office of the Guardian Ad Litem sought and won custody of Parker Jensen Aug. 8 after his parents failed to begin court-ordered chemotherapy treatments at PCMC that day. When the Jensens also failed to return Parker to Utah, they ran afoul of the law and were charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor custodial interference by Salt Lake County prosecutors. The couple were arraigned last week and are set to appear in 3rd District Court again Oct. 2.

After several days of negotiations with Division of Child and Family Services Director Richard Anderson and Mark May, director of the child protection division in the Office of the Utah Attorney General, a deal was inked that kept Parker at home and allowed for an additional evaluation by a pediatric oncologist but tied the family to chemotherapy if recommended.

"It was like signing with a gun to your head," Barbara Jensen said.