Las Vegas 'Extreme Makeover' family accused of medical child abuse

Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A local family featured on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is under scrutiny after questions are raised about their little girls' medical condition.
The Cerda family was featured heavily on Action News when they were selected by the show for a new home in March, 2009.
Thousands in the community donated their time, and money, to make the Cerda dream home a reality.
"For our family it just means so much to us," said Terri Cerda at the time.
Allegations this spring, first reported by the Oregonian newspaper in Clackamas County, show the mother may have misrepresented just how bad the girls health was.
The Cerdas said their little girls had combined immune deficiency disease, even wearing masks to protect against mold and mildew in their old house.
But neighbors on that street, have always had their doubts.
"She should have never gotten the house," says Marianne Parker.  "She used to let her kids run around with no shoes on. If they're sick why would you let them do that?"
Many neighbors tell Action News the girls didn't wear masks over their mouths, until TV cameras showed up.
"They were outside before without the masks when the dad was cutting wood," says Lindsey Clayton.  "They never looked sick to us."
But in march of 2009, the Cerdas got their home makeover.
It came complete with an elevator and special air filtration system to keep the girls healthy.
"We might not even have to wear masks anymore," one of the young girls told Action News at the time.
A few months after the desert mansion was completed, the Cerdas could no longer afford to keep it.  Taxes and maintenance were beyond their means. 
They put the house up for sale and moved to Oregon and it was there, that the Cerda family came under scrutiny.
This January, the Oregon Department of Human Services began investigating the Cerdas after a doctor in Clackamas County came to them.
He believed the Cerda girls weren't that sick and were receiving medicine they didn't need.
That's when DHS tells Action News, they removed the girls from the home.
"They didn't understand what was going on," says Mikel Miller, the Cerda family attorney.
He says Oregon doesn't have the pediatric experts equipped to deal with these girls' condition.
"Mom was talking to a lot of doctors about things they didn't understand," says Miller.  "Rather than believe what mom was saying, they choose to believe that mom was making it up."
Judge Susie L. Norby didn't buy mom's argument either and claimed Terri Cerda was a danger to the children.
Despite that, the girls were allowed to return home.
"That's because the judge found that only the mother was a danger to the children and that the father was not a danger," says Miller.
And as long as there is one competent parent, the girls can stay.
Criminal charges were never brought against the Cerdas and it was solely a child custody case.
The Cerdas are back living in Las Vegas and are seeing their old doctors, who the Cerdas believe better understand the girls' condition.
Source http://www.ktnv.com/