Limiting treatment for seriously ill children
The case of C, a baby born early this year (in a car on the way to hospital and deprived of oxygen because of the difficult circumstances of her birth) highlights how difficult cases are where a life is at stake, even though the law is clear. The judge, Peter Jackson J, was clear that it was not in C's best interests to continue to give life sustaining treatment and ordered that this should gradually be withdrawn. C is her parents' only child.
This short judgment does nothing to change the law. While all best interests cases are undoubtedly challenging, this one was less fraught than some other cases. And that is precisely why it is case worth reading. It is a straightforward, comprehensible application of the existing law and it powerfully demonstrates the hugely difficult decisions that clinicians – and the courts – must grapple with, when the stakes could not be higher.”