Court of Protection Allows Clinicians to Stop Life Support over Parents' Objections

On Friday, Mrs. Justice Theis of the Court of Protection gave healthcare providers permission to stop providing life-support treatment to a sick little boy who has been in hospital all his life and on a ventilator for several weeks. 



Parents

The boy's parents had asked the judge to give their son "every opportunity to live for as long as he could without causing him harm."



Clinicians

Clinicians concluded that further life-support treatment was unlikely to prolong the youngster's life but would cause him pain and distress.  The judge had been told by doctors that the little boy had a neurological condition - the cause of which was not known - and was likely to die within weeks without life-support treatment.  Doctors had said further life support treatment or resuscitation would not be in his best interests.  They said he should be made comfortable and given palliative care.



Court

"I have reached the conclusion that any further treatment given to (the little boy) over a significant period of time by way of artificial ventilation is unlikely to prolong life expectancy."