BMJ  2004;328:661 (20 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7441.661

News

Hospital breached boy's human rights by treating him against his mother's wishes

Clare Dyer, legal correspondent

BMJ

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The human rights of a 12 year old boy with profound disabilities and his mother were violated when doctors overrode her wishes and gave him diamorphine, the European court of human rights ruled last week.

The unanimous ruling confirms that doctors cannot impose treatment on a child against a parent's wishes. If the parent refuses consent, the court's approval must be sought.

Carol Glass told doctors she wanted her son David, who was in St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth in 1998 with a respiratory tract infection, to be resuscitated if his heart stopped. But doctors put a "Do not resuscitate" order in his medical notes without telling her.

Earlier in the year, he had spent 23 days on a ventilator, but this time doctors decided not to intervene but recommended diamorphine to ease his distress. His mother refused to believe he was dying and turned down the diamorphine, fearing it . . . [Full text of this article]

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The third way
Debasish Debnath
bmj.com, 21 Mar 2004 [Full text]
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