Trust A v V (2005) FD

Tuesday 19 April 2005 at 11:06 pm | In News | Post Comment

[Withdrawal of medical treatment]
M, aged 25 was in a permanent vegetative state for six years. The NHS trust applied for authorisation to withdraw hydration and nutrition.

Held: Application allowed; it was in M’s best interests to accede to the application. This was not euthanasia it was allowing natural consequences to take their course. There was no reason why the accepted principle that thou shalt not kill, but need not strive to keep a person alive, should not be a sound guide. The only test to be applied was that of the individual patient’s best interests which were determined on three bases:
(i) the medical evidence and advice as to whether or not a patient was in a permanent vegetative state, and whether or not continuing treatment was or was not in that patient’s best interests;
(ii) the family’s views, as they might be in the best position to convey what the patient’s view might have been;
(iii) the court’s duty in relation to public policy to scrutinise any course resulting in the death of a person for whom it was responsible by reason of their incapacity.
Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1994] and NHS Trust A v M [2001] considered.

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