Judge’s ruling no longer needed to end lives of vegetative patients

LEGAL PERMISSION will no longer be needed to withdraw treatment from patients in permanent vegetative state, the Supreme Court has ruled.

It will now be easier to withdraw food and liquid to allow such patients to die across the UK.

When families and doctors are in agreement, medical staff will be able to remove feeding tubes without applying to the Court of Protection.

Lady Black ruled there was no violation under the Human Rights Convention. But antiassisted dying campaigners said vegetative patients are “effectively going to be starved and dehydrated to death”.

The ruling by the Supreme Court involved a man with an extensive brain injury. The court decided that a decision he should be allowed to die without his family going before a judge should be upheld.

From June 2017, the 52-yearold financial analyst, who can be identified only as Mr Y, was in a prolonged disorder of consciousness (PDOC) after suffering a cardiac arrest as a result of coronary artery disease.

PDOC covers patients remaining in a coma, vegetative state and minimally conscious state after a brain injury.

Experts agreed it was highly improbable that Mr Y would reemerge into consciousness and even if he did he would have profound cognitive and physical disability and always be dependent on others.

Mr Y had not drawn up any advance decision to refuse treatment but his family were firmly of the view that he would not want to be kept alive given the poor prognosis.

His family and medical team agreed it would be in his best interests for clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH) to be withdrawn, with the result that he would die within two to three weeks.

In November 2017, a High Court judge granted a declaration that it was not mandatory to bring before the court the withdrawal of CANH from Mr Y in circumstances where there was no dispute between his relatives and specialists.

She gave permission for an appeal by the Official Solicitor – who represents people who lack capacity – and CANH was provided in the meantime, but Mr Y died in December.

It was decided that the appeal before five Supreme Court justices should proceed because of the general importance of the issues raised.

Richard Gordon QC, for the Official Solicitor, said that the central issue was whether the obtaining of an order from the Court of Protection, before CANH could lawfully be withdrawn from a person in a PDOC, was unnecessary where treating clinicians and the family agreed it was not in the patient’s best interests.

He added: “This case is not about whether it is in the best interests of a patient to have CANH withdrawn. It is about who decides that question.”

Although the Official Solicitor accepts there is no statutory requirement to bring such cases to court, he argues that the common law or human rights law require that every case involving the withdrawal of CANH be the subject of a best interests application regardless of whether there is a dispute.

Yesterday, the justices unanimously dismissed the appeal. Lady Black said it may be desirable that some cases should still be brought to court.

This case is about who decides that question. Richard Gordon QC, for the Official Solicitor.