5-year-old cancer patient to continue chemo treatments after judge’s order

WRIGHT COUNTY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minnesota judge has ruled a 5-year-old boy at the center of a custody and medical care dispute must continue with an extended chemotherapy regimen to fight off a potentially deadly form of leukemia.

The judge sided with the medical experts over the child’s parents, and ordered Keaton Peck to remain in the custody of Wright County Child Protection during his ongoing treatments.

Peck’s parents continue to maintain the treatment is too invasive and too painful for their son and they have sought to try alternative therapies. 

Peck was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an extreme, aggressive form of cancer attacking his white blood cells last December. His doctor, Nathan Gossai of Children’s Minnesota testified at trial that without immediate intervention, the boy would have died. That treatment regimen included chemo.

And while it was successful in beating back the cancer, Keaton’s mom and dad were sick about the side effects and impact on the boy’s weakened body.

Dr. Gossai testified the nationally accepted treatment protocol for this form of leukemia includes up to a two-and-a-half year commitment with high-level medical intervention and continued chemo so the cancer does not return. He reported, the survival rate is 93.1% when the regimen is followed completely.

But Keaton’s parents, McKena Peck and Troy Verm have said, given the success of the initial treatment and their naturalist beliefs, they would rather try alternative remedies going forward.

Peck and Verm have promised to keep up with cancer monitoring and are prepared to reevaluate should the leukemia return. The state stepped in when they balked at continuing with chemotherapy, stripping them of their custody rights out of concern for the child’s well-being. Keaton’s grandmother has served as a foster guardian with his parents still allowed to reside with and care for the boy.

In her final ruling in the case, Wright County Assistant Chief Judge Elizabeth Strand writes, "When watching Ms. Peck and Mr. Verm testify about their boy, it was very clear they want him to live. They do not want him to die. And they do not want to watch him endure the side-effects of chemotherapy treatment. They are in an untenable situation. However, it is this court’s determination that the best way to ensure they will always have their boy, is to order Keaton to complete the recommended chemotherapy protocol."

A follow-up disposition hearing is scheduled for July 27.