U.K. hospital seeks hearing on ill baby
‘Potential treatment’ to be court topic
LONDON — A London children’s hospital on Friday asked a British court to assess new evidence about the condition of Charlie Gard, a terminally ill baby at the center of a legal battle that has drawn international attention.
Great Ormond Street Hospital said it had applied for a new court hearing “in light of claims of new evidence relating to potential treatment for his condition.” The case is due to be heard at the High Court in London on Monday.
Charlie suffers from mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a rare genetic disease that has left him brain damaged and unable to breathe unaided. His parents want him taken to the U.S. for experimental therapy.
British and European courts have sided with the hospital’s decision that the 11-month-old’s life support should end, saying therapy would not help and would cause more suffering.
The baby’s life support was to be switched off last week, but the hospital delayed in order to give his parents more time with him.
The case has drawn interventions from Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump, who have both said they will do what they can to help.
An online campaign to send Charlie to the U.S. for treatment has raised more than $1.7 million.
New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center said late Thursday that it would admit and evaluate Charlie “provided that arrangements are made to safely transfer him to our facility, legal hurdles are cleared, and we receive emergency approval from the FDA for an experimental treatment as appropriate,” according to a statement to The Washington Post.
The U.S. hospital said another option could be to ship an experimental drug to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is currently being treated. The American hospital said it would provide instructions on administering the drug, provided the FDA gives clearance.
The Vatican’s Bambino Gesu hospital also offered to treat Charlie. A spokesman for the Vatican hospital told the Post on Wednesday that the British hospital turned down the offer, citing legal reasons, but added that officials were working on a solution.
Great Ormond Street Hospital said Friday that “two international hospitals and their researchers have communicated to us as late as the last 24 hours that they have fresh evidence about their proposed experimental treatment.”
“And we believe, in common with Charlie’s parents, it is right to explore this evidence,” the hospital said in a statement.
The hospital is currently bound by court rulings barring it from sending Charlie anywhere for the experimental treatment, nucleoside therapy. The rulings also say the baby’s artificial ventilation should be withdrawn and he should receive only palliative care.
The hospital said a court should assess the claims of fresh evidence and “make its judgment on the facts.”
“Our priority has always been, and will always be, the best interests of Charlie Gard,” the hospital said.
Earlier Friday, Connie Yates told the Good Morning Britain TV program that five doctors had told her the experimental treatment could help her son.
“I’ve heard from doctors that there’s around a 10 percent chance of this working for Charlie so I think that’s a good enough chance to take,” she said.
“In some sense, people may say that’s a small chance; but when it comes to medicine, that’s quite a big chance. Because sometimes you’ll do chemotherapy and there’s only a 2 percent chance of it working but you still try, because everybody wants to live, you know? The majority of them.”
Yates said she and Charlie’s father, Chris Gard, would not let their son suffer.
“We are not bad parents, we are there for him all the time, we are completely devoted to him and he’s not in pain and suffering, and I promise everyone I would not sit there and watch my son in pain and suffering, I couldn’t do it,” she said.