Boy Gets Transfusion Opposed by Parents

An 11-year-old boy--airlifted from his Antelope Valley home for a court-ordered blood transfusion that had been opposed by his parents for religious reasons--remained in good condition Tuesday at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Gary and Jan Rossi were at their son Brian’s bedside Tuesday, the latest protagonists in a recurring conflict between the denomination and government agencies over medical care for members’ children.

Brian Rossi suffers from aplastic anemia, a condition in which the bone marrow fails to produce blood cells needed to fight infection and support other vital functions.

At the request of doctors who said the boy’s life was in immediate danger, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Fieldhouse issued a verbal telephone order permitting the medical treatment over the Rossis’ objections, county officials said.

“They’re making us look like neglectful parents mishandling a situation and like religious fanatics, which we’re not,” Rossi said Tuesday. His son’s life was not in danger and doctors had rushed into the blood transfusion before it was necessary, he said.