Mother denies son medical attention

A Las Vegas woman is accused of killing her son by denying him medical treatment for a chronic kidney disease. Metro police told FOX5 Lena Marie Anderson was charged with murder and child abuse and neglect following the death of 15-year-old Patrick Atkins, who died Feb. 6 after being brought to University Medical Center with a bloody nose.

Police said Anderson told them her son had been sick for three weeks and, despite being treated with antibiotics, Atkins was not fully recovering. The antibiotics were prescribed by a doctor at Southwest Medical Center, but police said Anderson never told them about her son’s condition. Atkins underwent Urethal Valve surgery when he was a boy, and his mother had been treating him with medication and catheterization several times a day. Police said when the boy was 12, Anderson refused to take him back to the doctor, thinking the condition would change on its own. She also told police she discontinued Atkins' medication because he didn't like it and she was tired of “fighting her son.”

Detectives interviewed doctors and a nurse who had treated Atkins. All of them said they had warned Anderson about continued treatment for her son.