It would be so satisfying to go off on an extended rant about this but I wouldn’t know where to start. A Terri Schiavo-style situation, but the patient is a baby, and it’s not the parents versus another family member. It’s the parents versus the government – the National Health Services.
Parents battling to keep their seriously ill baby alive have failed to overturn a ruling allowing him to die.
The nine-month-old boy has a rare metabolic disorder and has suffered brain damage and respiratory failure.
The couple had appealed against a judge’s ruling on Thursday that it was in the boy’s best interests to withdraw his “life sustaining treatment”.
They said they were “deeply distressed” by the decision and the life of their “beautiful boy” was worth preserving.
In a statement, they said they knew of only one other child with their son’s condition and everyone was in “unknown territory”.
“We are and always will be convinced that despite his desperate problems his life is worthwhile and is worth preserving as long as it is possible to do so without causing him undue pain.
“That was the real argument between us and the doctors – they think his life is intolerable and that his disability is such that his life has little purpose; but we, along with some of the nurses, believed that he experiences pleasure and that he has long periods where he was relaxed and pain free.
“Our belief in his humanity and inherent worth justified us taking every step to support him.”
They stopped the ventilator last night and “baby OT” died. One of the judges said
“I bear in mind that OT is a unique human being. His life is valuable. But OT does not have the right to be kept alive in all circumstances. OT has the right to life. OT does not have the right to be kept alive.“
It’s an important distinction. This case is at least a bit more clear-cut than Terri Schaivo’s. We’re not talking about food and water, something most people agree isn’t extraordinary assistance even if it is delivered via a tube. OT was on a ventilator; by most people’s standards, receiving extraordinary assistance to live.
With the amazing increases in medical technology, we’re going to continue to have these ethical dilemmas. Years ago, baby OT would have died soon after being born, the parents would have grieved, and no one – well, perhaps God – would have been railed against or blamed. I can’t imagine having to judge this case. Having read all the articles, I still haven’t formed an opinion on what the correct decision was. I am praying for all involved.
And with regard to the ethical dilemmas… we need to engage with grace.
So to clarify, the court is able to make this decision because of their Nationalized Healthcare System? Or can the family not afford to take care of the child on their own? Or is it simply a “we have a better understanding about what is best for you and yours.”?
I feel so sorry for the family and their failed fight.
I’ll hold my rant until I understand the reason this happened.
Travis Clay
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It’s all of the above. Similar things have happened in this country, where it was an “ethics committee” and BCBS instead of NHS. Basically, when someone else is paying the bills, they expect to have a say. The doctors are the ones who originated the plug-pulling process. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they really, really, really had OT’s best interests at heart. But it’s a very safe bet they had hospital administrators breathing down their necks to get this expensive baby out of ICU. I STILL don’t know what to think about it. In the case of Terri Schaivo, I was livid because I don’t consider food and water – even when delivered by tube – medical care. That wasn’t a “letting someone die” in the same sense that unplugging a ventilator is. But that’s my view. I guess you could make a case that air isn’t medical care, even when delivered by a ventilator… (sigh)
I’m grateful for medical technology. My husband was the beneficiary of experimental cancer treatment after doctors told the family he had no reasonable chance to live. But the cans of worms this is opening… this is hard.