Jaxon Adams – 8 years old.
by Terri LaPoint
Health Impact News
A Missouri doctor recently told a little boy that, if she had it her way, he would never see his mommy and daddy again. This was after 8 year old Jaxon was seized from his parents’ custody based solely on a statement from this single doctor. His parents, Tiffany and Jason Adams, are desperately trying to bring him home after what appears to be his doctor’s retaliation because they “dared to seek a second opinion.”
It used to be that patients and parents were not only permitted, but encouraged to seek a second opinion. It used to be that parents and patients had the right to fire one doctor and hire another one. It is unclear how or when those sacred rights vanished, but vanished they have for one family who has been devastated by the severity of retribution when they sought those very things. An 8 year old little boy is left traumatized and confused, because his family has been ripped away from him by Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, enabled by Child Protective Services.
Jaxon Adams’ Story
Affectionately known as Jaxx, adorable Jaxon Adams was a pretty healthy baby – babbling, sitting up, and meeting all the normal milestones. His 6 month shots were delayed because of an ear infection, but he got all of his routine shots at 8 months. He slowed down somewhat after that, but nothing seemed really concerning.
When he was four, his parents noticed that he had a hard time keeping up with his teammates on the soccer field. A teacher recommended an evaluation. Jaxon was diagnosed as being on high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, as well as having ADHD.
He began to have seizures, and was diagnosed with epilepsy. He struggled with constipation, low energy, and sleeping much more than normal. Testing revealed a number of food allergies, some of them severe. His parents and doctors worked hard to find medications and foods that his body could tolerate. Eventually, doctors decided to surgically insert a g-tube feeding tube into his stomach.
Beginning Treatment at Children’s Mercy Hospital
After all that, Jaxon was struggling to gain any weight. His parents wanted to find out why. In March of 2014, the Adams began to see nurse practitioner Ingrid Larson in Dr. Amber Hoffman’s practice at the Beacon Clinic in Children’s Mercy Hospital. Unbeknownst to the Adams, the Beacon Clinic is where a doctor later told a source that children suspected of being abused are “funneled into.”
During this time, another doctor noted that some of Jaxon’s symptoms could be caused by mitochondrial disease, but he told Tiffany that Children’s Mercy Hospital was very poor at diagnosing it. He recommended a doctor at Cardinal Glennon, who became convinced that Jaxon had a mitochondrial condition after running two tests. Before running the third test he scheduled in June, he abruptly cancelled and said he didn’t want to be involved with Jaxx’s care, after a conversation he had with Dr. Hoffman’s office.
Questioning Inferior Treatment at Children’s Mercy Hospital
In August, Tiffany and Jason met with Jaxon’s care team at Children’s Mercy Hospital’s Beacon Clinic. They shared their concerns about the care by the nurse-practitioner regarding Jaxon’s weight issue. Under the nurse’s care Jaxon had lost quite a bit of weight. But when Tiffany began researching natural foods and changing his diet, he began to put on weight again.
When the nurse said that she couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t been gaining weight, Tiffany said that they would be looking for someone who would be able to figure it out.
The parents had begun speaking with a medical malpractice attorney, who started looking into Jaxon’s medical records.
It was right after this that the little boy began fainting. Tiffany said that he just passed out just a few feet in front of her while he was riding on an electric scooter, an accident that landed him in the hospital with a cut above his eye. Once he fainted while eating birthday cake at a party. While Jaxon’s parents were puzzled about the fainting spells, the doctors at the Beacon Clinic decided that they were psychosomatic. They also told them that all of Jaxon’s problems were in his head.
Doctor Threatens Parents at Children’s Mercy Hospital
Amber M. Hoffman, MD – Pediatrics – Source, Children’s Mercy Hospital
When the Adams said they wanted to get a second opinion, they were told that they were not allowed to do so. When they suggested switching pediatricians, again the Adams were told that they could not.
On September 15, the family had an appointment with Dr. Hoffman at the Beacon Clinic. The doctor came in and asked why they disagreed with the diagnosis of psychosomatic causes for Jaxon’s multiple conditions. According to Tiffany, the doctor’s hostile attitude became upsetting to her son, and he was removed to a waiting room. The Adams insisted that they had a right to seek another opinion. To which Dr. Hoffman replied:
“I want you to know big hospitals take kids away from families for this stuff.”
Tiffany asked, “For seeking a second opinion?” When the doctor nodded yes, Jaxon’s mother asked, “Why would you do that to me?”
Mrs. Adams heard vengeance in Dr. Hoffman’s response: “I hope you have a good attorney. We’re going to have your behind.”
CPS Unwillingly Takes Custody Under Doctor’s Orders
Two days later, on September 17, Child Protective Services showed up at the Adams home with a police officer to talk to them. A therapist who had arrived just before to help with Jaxx’s care told Tiffany, “I cannot believe this. You guys are GOOD parents.” When they left, they said they would be back soon to get the kids. They also said they couldn’t tell what the accusations were against them. One of them told Tiffany, “You guys are not bad parents.”
They returned on the next day to take Jaxon away from his home, from his parents, and from his 10 year old sister, who he is very close to as well. He was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital, and not allowed to see his family.
The investigator had tears in her eyes when she admitted that she did not want to take Jaxon, “but they’re making me.” It came down to one statement, with no charges being filed, and CPS admitting that they had not reviewed the medical records. Dr. Hoffman had called CPS immediately after the meeting with the Adams where they asked for a second opinion.
The doctor reported to CPS that Jaxon was in “imminent danger,” because his organs were at risk of shutting down because he wasn’t getting proper nutrition at home. She said that they had been building a case against them for six months, and that they had all the evidence they needed.
Later, Jaxon’s parents learned that they stood accused of medical abuse, medical neglect, lack of nutrition, lack of supervision (based on him falling off the scooter when he fainted, although Tiffany was right there when it happened), and psychological abuse.
Children’s Mercy Hospital Terrorizes Family
The real psychological abuse took place as soon as Children’s Mercy Hospital got Jaxon under their care. His parents were allowed a brief 25-minute visit shortly after CPS took him. It would be 26 days before the system would allow this little boy to see his parents again.
Dr. Hoffman came into the child’s room when he was crying his heart out missing his family. She told him to suck it up and stop crying. Her words that she told him were cruel beyond belief, as he later confided to his sister:
“If I have it my way, you’ll never see your mommy and daddy again.”
Because Jaxon tried to call his parents, the staff took the phone out of his hospital room.
A couple of times, he got out of his room heading for the stairwell, in a vain attempt to escape.
There were signs on his door saying, “Under CPS custody,” and “Parents Not Allowed In.” As his mother says, “He can read.”
He later told his family that he cried a lot because he didn’t know where his family was. He felt utterly abandoned.
Tremendous Abuse and Suffering Under Hospital Care at Children’s Mercy Hospital
The hospital has been feeding him foods that Jaxon is allergic to, resulting in his being covered in eczema.
The care plan called for “demedicalizing” him, taking him off of all the medications the doctors had previously prescribed, cold turkey. Interestingly, over the course of the next few weeks, they ended up re-prescribing every single prescription except the seizure medicine.
They took away the wheelchair and threw away his leg braces that he used because of his hypotonia and often severe leg pain.
When his parents were finally able to visit him on October 13th, after nearly an entire month, Jaxon didn’t want to let go of his mommy.
Jason and Tiffany were instructed not to discuss anything that had happened with him. This frustrated Jaxon, who couldn’t comprehend why they kept changing the subject. He wanted to know why they were ignoring him. He cried out in exasperation, “I’m not done telling you!”
Parents Restricted Visitation Rights – Transferred to Foster Family
The Adams have been able to visit their son once since that visit. They are now permitted one two-hour visit per week.
He is out of the hospital now, and in the care of foster parents. His sister has been permitted to visit him on several occasions. Because he no longer has the leg braces, there are times that Jaxon literally crawls around the house, because his legs hurt. The foster parents have been instructed to ignore any pain that he has. They are forbidden to give him as much as a Tylenol for pain.
Jason Adams, the father of Jaxon, told me this:
Tiffany especially, as a stay-at-home mom, has gone above and beyond. There’s nothing you can do about it, and that’s probably the most difficult. My family means the world to me and I love them. You live in the United States of America, and in this particular court setting, you’re guilty until proven innocent. He was taken away with no just cause.
Dr. James Anderst – Spy Doctor & Expert in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
Dr. James Anderst secretly observes children in the Beacon Clinic to determine if they should be taken away from their parents for “medical abuse.”
Since Jaxon’s abduction, a couple of disturbing things have come to light. The Adams have discovered that Dr. James Anderst has been working behind the scenes watching Jaxon for several months.
Dr. Anderst is the Division Director of the SCAN clinic, a division of Children’s Mercy Hospital. In one place on the hospital website, the clinic carries the description, “Safety Caring and Nurturing Clinic,” but in another place, its real purpose is revealed as the “Child Abuse and Neglect Clinic.” He told a source that, before a child becomes a part of that clinic, families that they want to watch are “funneled into” the Beacon Clinic for observation.
According to the Children’s Mercy Hospital website, the SCAN clinic is also a research center for “child abuse and neglect.” Dr. Anderst is associated with the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, which receives over $47 million per year in grants to do drug research.
Jason Adams, the father of Jaxon, states: “Dr. Anderst gets grant money to do this to 40 families a year.”
The Beacon Clinic is often presented to the unsuspecting parents of special needs kids as a place where they can go to coordinate care and be seen quicker, with a more streamlined process. They have no clue that they, like the Adams family, are being watched, by people who seem determined to find something, anything, on which to build a case, and if they cannot find anything, to make something up.
In a startling comment to Health Impact News‘ source, Dr. Anderst declared that he sees about 40 cases per year, in Kansas City alone, of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a type of child abuse where a parent seeks attention by inducing real or imagined medical symptoms in a child. Most experts maintain that the syndrome is extremely rare. Nothing in Jaxon’s story reads like Muchausen’s.
Yet, it appears that he is determined to make this accusation against Tiffany Adams, a mother who has simply followed the instructions of her doctors, to the best of her ability, until it became clear that another opinion was needed. By daring to contradict her son’s almighty doctor in search of answers and better medical care for her child, she is being punished in the cruelest way possible. Jaxon just wants to come home. He desperately misses his family. And they are devastated by his absence.
There is a Facebook page set up to follow his case and to learn how you can help bring Jaxon home, called Saving Jaxon.
Jaxon’s mom has become friends with another mother whose nightmare of medical kidnapping began when she sought a second opinion. Michelle Rider, whose son Isaiah was seized by Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, writes of Jaxon’s family, “Another sweet boy and family … they don’t deserve this either. … A child and family being turned upside down due to arrogance and abuse of power.”
Read the full story and comment here on our new MedicalKidnap.com site.
About the Author
Terri LaPoint is a labor doula, childbirth and breastfeeding educator, and assistant midwife. She holds a B.S. in Cultural Anthropology/World Missions with a minor in Behavioral Science from Toccoa Falls College. She is a homeschool mom, speaker, and writer, married to the love of her life for more than 20 years. She is a passionate defender of freedom and endeavors to be a voice for the voiceless.