Terminally ill child granted permanent residence in US
Charlie Gard
THE ongoing political row over the treatment of Charlie Gard took a new turn today as it emerged US politicians have granted the terminally ill 11-month-old permanent resident status to allow him to fly to America for treatment.
Congress passed the amendment that it is reported could mean Charlie’s parents, who have been mired in a battle with British doctors, will be able to take him to the US without needing their permission.
It comes a day after Charlie’s mother Connie Yates met two international experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital to discuss the child’s condition. The meeting, which lasted more than five hours, was also attended by medics from the London hospital.
Charlie was examined on Monday by Michio Hirano, a professor of neurology at Columbia University in New York, who flew to the UK.
The little boy’s parents Chris Gard and Miss Yates want a judge to rule that their son, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, should be allowed to undergo a therapy trial overseen by Dr Hirano in the US.
A spokesman for the couple said they would not comment on the meeting “as this is a judicial matter”, and they did not wish to say anything that could potentially harm Charlie’s case.
Dr Hirano, who has claimed an experimental drug could potentially save Charlie, attended Tuesday’s meeting with a second international expert.
They were joined at the meeting by the Great Ormond Street team currently caring for Charlie, his mother and an independent chairman, a hospital spokesman said.
On Monday, Dr Hirano was given full access to Charlie’s medical records and hospital and clinical facilities, including diagnostic images, for four and a half hours.
Great Ormond Street said it would be for the court to decide the next steps regarding Charlie. Specialists from the hospital say that treatment will not work, and the little boy’s life support should be turned off.
His parents, from Bedfont, west London, have already lost battles in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. They also failed to persuade European Court of Human Rights judges to intervene.
Mr Justice Francis has considered the couple’s latest claims at preliminary hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London.
He is due to hold further hearings later this month following this week’s meetings. (© Daily Telegraph, London)