Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Thursday, November 19, 1998
Maine's Department of Human Services had sought custody of Nikolas Emerson in September because Valerie Emerson had refused to give her son drugs she said would kill him.
The state had argued that the mother was jeopardizing her child's health, but in September Newport District Court Judge Douglas Clapp ruled the child's health was not endangered because of the mother's refusal to administer the drug to her child.
Two scientists had testified that the three-drug cocktail used to treat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was still experimental and could have devastating side effects.
Emerson lost her only daughter, Tia, to an AIDS-related pneumonia two years ago. Emerson said the child, then 3, had taken the powerful AZT drug combination and had suffered an agonizing death.
Emerson had argued that her son, without the drugs, was "a happy go- lucky little guy."
But the state Human Services Department appealed the District Court decision.
Today's Supreme Court ruling affirms that little Nicholas may continue to go without any such drug treatment.
Infected with HIV herself, Emerson is the mother of two other children who do not have the virus.
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