Barbara and Daren Jensen say their constitutional right to decide what was best for their son was violated, according to the complaint filed in Salt Lake City's 3rd District Court. Parker Jensen, then 12, had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

The lawsuit asks a judge to award the couple an unspecified amount in damages for their claims, including emotional distress, and attorney's fees.

"The impact of the medical neglect accusations has been financially devastating on us," Daren Jensen said in a statement Monday. "The state of Utah was holding us accountable for our decisions with respect to Parker's health care, and now it's time to hold the state accountable for its decisions."

The high-profile case drew national attention and led to flurry of parental rights bills on Utah's Capitol Hill. Two bills strengthening parents' rights became law.

Today, Daren Jensen said: "Parker is healthy and active. He has always been rambunctious and to this day he continues to grow into a young man that any parent would be proud of."

The government defendants are the State of Utah, Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) Director Richard Anderson and social worker Kari Cunningham, and assistant attorney general Susan Eisenman.

The suit also names Intermountain Health Care (IHC) and three of its physicians, Lars Wagner, David Corwin, and Cheryl Coffin, and University of Utah physician Karen Albritton.

Officials at DCFS, Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC), the U. and IHC declined to comment on the lawsuit until their attorneys have a chance to review it.

In the suit, the Jensens claim they declined chemotherapy only after physicians refused to perform testing that would have definitively confirmed their son had Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that occurs mainly in children.

After a laboratory tested a sample of a small tumor removed from under Parker's tongue and found it to be cancerous, PCMC conducted further testing, according to the lawsuit.

PCMC physician Amy Lowichik suggested a diagnosis of Ewing's, the suit said. But Lowichik said some indicators often associated with Ewing's were not found, while other markers that were found were not exclusive to Ewing's. Lowichik said genetic testing on a new biopsy might be "informative."

But the Jensens claim Wagner and others at PCMC and the U. failed to follow up on the recommendation, and didn't tell the Jensens about the possible benefit of additional testing. Instead, a PCMC nurse called to tell them Parker had the cancer and that the treatment would be chemotherapy, the suit said.

The family contacted Barbara Jensen's father, who put them in touch with an Oklahoma cancer specialist who said Ewing's was not ordinarily diagnosed without additional testing. The family read the same information about genetic testing on the Internet, the suit said.

"The Jensens were concerned about subjecting Parker to nearly a year of dangerous chemotherapy without being certain that Parker's condition was Ewing's sarcoma, and without knowing the stage and grade of the cancer," the suit said.

Wagner balked at authorizing a body tissue scan the Jensens had requested, and canceled a planned second removal of tissue that could have served as a new biopsy for genetic testing, the suit said.

The doctor instead said he wanted to leave remaining cancerous cells in Parker's mouth as a marker to determine whether chemotherapy was working once he started treatment, the suit said.

The Jensens asked Wagner to research an insulin therapy treatment before Parker would begin chemotherapy, the suit said. But the couple allege they were threatened at June 2003 meeting with Wagner and PCMC officials, who said they would pay for additional genetic testing only if they agreed to begin chemotherapy immediately.

When the parents said they were no longer considering the insulin therapy and wanted to take Parker elsewhere for treatment, they claim they were threatened by warnings from Wagner saying, "I will have your child."

Hospital officials eventually filed a medical neglect complaint against the Jensens, and DCFS sought custody of Parker.

But the lawsuit also alleges DCFS caseworker Cunningham never spoke with the Jensens or investigated Wagner's claims that the Ewing's diagnosis had been confirmed.

Cunningham and DCFS also allegedly told the court the Jensens wanted to use the insulin therapy, when in fact the couple had only asked Wagner about it, the suit said.

The couple say Eisenman and Albritton falsely represented that physicians chosen by the family to take over Parker's care were not qualified to do so in July hearings.

The suit also accuses Wagner of interfering with the taking of a second tissue sample sent to the University of Washington in Seattle. The lab agreed with the earlier diagnosis after reviewing the earlier lab work, but did not do genetic testing, the suit claims.

When genetic testing was finally done by hospitals in Los Angeles and Spokane, Wash., in September, it did not conclusively determine whether Parker had Ewing's sarcoma, the suit claims.

Three days later, DCFS dropped the case, saying chemotherapy would require the cooperation of both Parker and his parents.

The Jensens, who had briefly removed Parker from the state, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor custodial interference charge and in exchange, felony kidnapping charges were dropped.

The battle over Parker's medical care

Surgery and diagnosis: A small tumor removed from under Parker Jensen's tongue on May 2, 2003, is diagnosed as Ewing's sarcoma by Primary Children's Medical Center on May 19.

State steps in: Jensen's parents reject chemotherapy. Hospital officials make a medical neglect claim to the state Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) on June 16.

Custody battle: Judge Robert Yeates orders the state to take custody of Parker on Aug. 8 after his parents refuse to start chemotherapy. After briefly disappearing with Parker, they agree to follow the advice of a doctor of their choosing, and regain custody Sept. 5.

Cancer halted? The Jensens announce Sept. 25 that tests show no new evidence of cancer. The next day, their Idaho doctor recommends 11 months of chemotherapy, after he says the tumor tests positive for Ewing's sarcoma - a result now disputed by the parents. The family again demands the right to direct Parker's care.

The fight ends: Days later, state officials abandon the fight to force Parker into chemotherapy. After meeting with Parker, the judge agrees to dismiss the case on Oct. 24, citing the boy's resistance and criticizing his parents.

The fallout: The Jensen case sparked 32 bills to strengthen parents' rights. Two bills are now state law: Senate Bill 83 established that a parent's medical decision does not constitute neglect unless the state can prove by "clear and convincing" evidence that it was not "reasonable or informed." House Bill 338 added U.S. Supreme Court language emphasizing the state must tread softly when intervening in a parent's "fundamental" right to care for a child.