Two difficult medical cases,  an announcement on the devolution of abortion law, same-sex marriage in the Isle of Man – and more…

Can parents choose alternative remedies against medical advice?

In JM (a child), Re [2015] EWHC 2832 (Fam) a ten-year-old child, J, has a very rare aggressive cancer in his right jawbone. The NHS Trust sought permission to perform urgent surgery: his parents want to use Chinese medicine instead. The unambiguous medical evidence before the court was that, without surgery, in six months to a year J would die “a brutal and agonising death”. Mostyn J found for the NHS Trust:

“The NHS trust has permission to provide and administer all treatment to J (notwithstanding that his parents do not consent to such treatment on behalf of J) in accordance with the treatment plan supplied to the court and appended to this order” [18].

Since UKHRB has posted a full note of the case there is no point in us writing another one.

Vincent Lambert and the right to life Continue reading →