Leading articles
Withdrawal of treatment
Dilemmas in the medical treatment of patients facing inevitable death
Correspondence to:
Robin Powell, Tanfield Chambers, 2–5 Warwick Court, London WC1R 5DJ, UK; rpowell@tanfieldchambers.co.uk
Accepted 13 April 2007
Paediatricians feel that they are now compelled to treat a patient against their wishes and may be liable to civil or criminal action if they withdraw treatment
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The judgment of Mr Justice Holman in the case of MB [2006] EWHC 507 (Fam) has raised concerns amongst paediatricians that they are now compelled to treat a child against their conscience. MB was a child who had the most severe form of spinal muscular atrophy. An NHS Trust sought a declaration that the child MB lacked the capacity to make decisions with regard to his future treatment and that it shall be lawful, notwithstanding his parents’ refusal to consent, and in MB’s best interests, for the medical staff to (a) withdraw all forms of ventilation and (b) provide palliative care. The judge refused to grant the declaration. This paper explores the concern of paediatricians that they are now compelled to treat a patient against their wishes and may be liable to civil or criminal action if they withdraw treatment.
MB was a child who suffered from
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
Relevant Articles
- Atoms
- Howard Bauchner
Arch. Dis. Child. 2007 92: 737.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
-
A brief digest of the September issue
Arch. Dis. Child. 2007 92: e9.[Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Wright, B, Aldridge, J, Wurr, K, Sloper, T, Tomlinson, H, Miller, M
(2009). Clinical dilemmas in children with life-limiting illnesses: decision making and the law. Palliat Med
23: 238-247
[Abstract]
eLetters:
Read all eLetters
- Dilemma indeed
- Sharryn E Gardner
- ADC Online, 7 Sep 2007 [Full text]
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Submit a response
- Read responses to this article
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me when eLetters are posted
- Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
- Email this link to a friend
- Similar articles in ADC Online
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Add article to my folders
- Download to citation manager
- Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with
Register for free content
The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.
Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.
