AMID the throng of media, doctors and politicians at today’s medical marijuana symposium, one family will watch on with a far more personal stake in the debate.
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Cassie Batten and Rhett Wallace, and their severely epileptic son Cooper, are among the human faces of a debate that has captured the attention of the nation.
Theirs is a story of anguish and determination, and of the right for a parent to have a say over the medicine their child uses.
Doctors thought Cooper, 3, would die after he contracted bacterial meningitis at four weeks old, leaving him with severe brain damage, cerebral abscesses, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
In desperation, the family began administering cannabis oil to treat Cooper late last year.
The results were stunning.
An EEG test before cannabis oil treatment showed Cooper having 57 seizures in 60 minutes.
The EEG after showed no seizures at all.
Mrs Batten, who grew up in Barraba but now lives in Melbourne, said hundreds of similar stories to Cooper’s meant politicians were being too cautious asking for extra clinical trials.
“We were told Cooper was likely to die before he was two and the only change we made was adding the oil,” Mrs Batten said.
“This is a legitimate treatment that has given us and Cooper more quality of life.
“It should be legalised and they should look at the research that has already been done, rather than conduct more clinical trials.”
On July 10, police raided the family home and confiscated the oil which the couple said was keeping Cooper alive.
But they have since resumed use of the oil after a meeting with Victoria’s Department of Human Services.