Hospital unlawfully withdrew life sustaining treatment from man, court rules

The Court of Appeal has ruled that a hospital illegally withdrew life-sustaining treatment from a 68-year-old man.

The man had treatment withdrawn on 11 February, despite objections from his family. The man died just over two weeks later, just just a few hours before a judge was resulting from make a choice on whether to reinstate the treatment.

Initially admitted to hospital on 7 April last yr with a stroke, he had required dialysis twice per week resulting from a kidney failure attributable to pre-existing diabetes.

According to his family, he showed signs of consciousness, equivalent to squeezing his wife’s hand and following people across the room along with his eyes and blinking upon request. The family allege that the hospital banned filming within the ICU after they took video recordings of such actions to point out to doctors.

Following his death, the Court of Appeal ruled that the withdrawal or refusal of life-sustaining treatment can only proceed with prior court approval.

Lord Justice Baker said, “The hospital cannot pre-empt court proceedings by unilaterally withholding or withdrawing treatment on ‘clinical” grounds’…The course taken by the Trust on this case was contrary to established principle and practice articulated within the case law, the Code of Practice, and guidance.”

The court’s judgment states, “Any decision concerning the care and treatment of a mentally incapacitated adult, including the withdrawal of life‑sustaining treatment, have to be taken within the patient’s best interests. There is not any carve out for ‘clinical decisions’.”

The man’s daughter said, “It was a profound shock for the family to see the NHS’s so-called end-of-life care in motion. My father used to inform me that doctors don’t care about you and you need to not trust them, and on the time, I disagreed with him and thought he was being dramatic. The events which led to his death make me understand what he meant.”

She added, “Three very senior judges have given a well-reasoned judgment which suggests that the NHS unlawfully deprived my father or his right to live. What the family would really like to know is whether or not anything will now be done to make sure this doesn’t occur again.

“It is just too late now to save lots of my father’s life, however the system which took it away needs to be held accountable for that, for the sake of other people’s fathers and moms, brothers and sisters, husbands, wives and kids, whose lives still rely upon it.”

The family was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, which said that a public inquiry into the medical and legal points of end-of-life care is “long overdue”.