SALEM, Mass. – A 9-year-old boy whose mother is charged with reckless child endangerment for allegedly withholding her son's cancer medication has died.
A spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office says Jeremy Fraser died Monday.
A lawyer for the boy's father, Eric Fraser, tells The Salem News that Jeremy, who had leukemia and autism, died in hospice care.
Jeremy was diagnosed in 2006 with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which progressed to leukemia. Prosecutors say his mother, Kristen Anne LaBrie, canceled at least a dozen appointments for chemotherapy treatment and did not fill at least half of the prescriptions her son was given. She has pleaded not guilty.
The parents are estranged.
District attorney's spokesman Steve O'Connell says prosecutors have not ruled out new charges against the mother.
Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing editor of health for FOXNews.com, said the boy may have been able to recover had he received the proper treatment.
"I’m so outraged that this 9-year-old autistic boy has died from non-Hodgkins lymphoma," he said. "Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a very treatable cancer, but it requires adequate treatment that could range from months to a year. In fact, doctors had given Jeremy a 92 percent cure rate — assuming his mother would do her part in helping him complete treatment."
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