Doctors and parents agree care plan for toddler with terminal condition

Parents and doctors in a legal battle over the treatment of a toddler with a terminal condition have come to an agreement after the judge refused to make a blanket declaration that mechanical ventilation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation would be against her best interests.

Mr Justice Williams said last November that he would not rule out ventilation or cardiopulmonary resuscitation in all circumstances, pending a final hearing in a month’s time. An unnamed NHS trust had asked for a declaration that it would be in the best interests of the 2.5 year old girl to have only palliative care if her condition worsened.

The case was heard in November and December, but the judgment from both hearings has just been published.1 In this …