After being diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymp nodes, 16-year-old Abraham Cherrix of Virginia's Eastern Shore underwent three months of chemotherapy. In the aftermath his cancer remained active and his physical condition deteriorated.

Abraham decided, with his parents permission, to try an alternative treatment that involved herbs and a sugar-free organic diet combined with visits to an alternative medicine clinic. A physician who apparently disapproved of this choice reported the family to a social worker. The social worker contacted legal authorities.

Last May, a Virginia judge issued a temporary order finding Abraham's parents "neglectful" for supporting their son's decision to seek non-chemical treatment for his cancer. The judge took custody of Abraham from his parents and handed the boy over to oversight from a county social service agency.

"What it boils down to is does the American family have the right to decide on the health of their child," declared Abraham's father, Jay, "or is the government allowed to come in and determine themselves and threaten to split our family up?"

This legal case has broad ramifications. It is not only about a patient's right to choose his or her own medical treatment options, though that is an extremely important concept in a nation founded on individual rights

It is a case that symbolizes how entrenched economic interests -- represented by the medical establishment and pharmaceutical companies -- are reacting to the emergence of alternative treatments that threaten to undermine public dependence on synthetic chemicals.

This developing conflict will be a continuing focus for me on these pages.