Ailing Boy in Bone Marrow Legal Test Dies

PARK RIDGE, Ill. — A 13-year-old leukemia victim whose father waged an unsuccessful legal battle for a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant died today, a spokesman said.

Jean-Pierre Bosze of suburban Hoffman Estates died this morning, said Edward Jordan, the Bosze family attorney.

The child’s father, Tamas Bosze, sought a landmark court ruling to force Nancy Curran--his former girlfriend and the mother of Jean-Pierre’s 3-year-old half siblings--to have the twins tested as possible bone marrow donors.

Curran opposed testing the twins, saying the transplant procedure would be too painful. In September, the State Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of Curran.

Bosze insisted the 3-year-olds would want to help their brother if they were old enough to decide. Bosze never divorced Jean-Pierre’s mother, and he had twins with Curran while the married couple were separated.

Jean-Pierre’s doctors, meanwhile, had warned that his condition was worsening. Bosze initially petitioned the courts in June.

In the initial lower court ruling, Cook County Circuit Judge Monica Reynolds held Sept. 6 that forcing the twins to take a blood test to determine whether they could be marrow donors for Jean-Pierre would violate their constitutional right to privacy.

Bone marrow donations can save the lives of victims of leukemia and other diseases if a donor with closely matching tissue types--usually a relative--can be found. Bosze approached Curran after tests showed that he, Jean-Pierre’s mother, Jean-Pierre’s brother and another half sister were all incompatible.