WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A teenager at the center of a 16-month custody dispute based on conflicting medical diagnoses has returned to her parents’ home in Connecticut.
A Massachusetts judge ordered the release of Justina Pelletier to the custody of her parents, who took her from a facility in Thompson on Wednesday to their home in West Hartford.
The parents had pushed for the return of their daughter, whose case hinged on dueling diagnoses of Justina’s condition.
Tufts Medical Center had treated Justina for mitochondrial disease, a disorder that affects cellular energy production. But Boston Children’s Hospital later diagnosed her problems as psychiatric.
When her parents rejected that diagnosis and tried to take her back to Tufts, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families took custody of Justina, setting off the dispute.
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