Questions That Need To Be Answered
Doctors at Children's Hospital need to fully explain why they overstated - which is a polite way of saying they lied - about the severity of 9-month-old Riley Rogers' medical condition.
Officials at DSHS have got to come forward and fully detail the legal process that's used to take custody away from parents who disagree with doctors over what's appropriate medical treatment for their children.
King County Prosecutors need to justify Tina Carlsen's $500,000 bail and 5-day jail stint for basically being a worried mother who ran off with her baby out of desperation.
Now, it's quite possible that when all those questions are answered, we'll learn that the doctors, DSHS, the prosecutors and the judges, all did this best thing for Riley Rogers, in the right way.
Or, we may learn that a serious disagreement with doctors about what kind of medical treatment children need, poses a serious risk that the state will simply swoop in and take child custody away from parents, and allowing doctors to do that they think is best - regardless of what parents want.
Now I've got to admit, that sounds like an absurdly far-fetched notion to me.
But I can't help but wonder if that's how it sounded to Tina Carlsen what all this started.
Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com
And be sure to catch Ken Schram and John Carlson on their new radio show, "THE COMMENTATORS." Airing Monday through Friday, from 10 till noon on KOMO 1000, Ken and John will be delving into news of the day offering their own particular brand of insight and perspective - with a healthy dose of irreverence and humor thrown in for good measure.