What does Charlie Gard’s case say about ethical issues in healthcare?
The fifth case was Charlie Gard. After the meeting in January, it was clear to Charlie’s parents that Great Ormond Street would not provide him with nucleoside treatment. Connie and Chris started to look at other options, and on 30 th January they started an online appeal to raise funds for him to travel to the United States for treatment ...
What happened to Charlie Gard?
Jul 06, 2017 · Although a Charlie Gard case could happen in the United States, “it seems unlikely,” said Dr. John D. Lantos, director of Bioethics Center …
Is Charlie Gard being held captive by the NHS?
Jun 08, 2017 · The hospital said therapy proposed by a doctor in America is experimental and that Charlie's life support treatment should stop. Charlie has mitochondrial depletion syndrome, a …
What can we learn from Charlie Gard’s case?
Melissa Fausz is deputy director of policy at Americans for Prosperity. For weeks, the world has been watching in rapt attention the saga of Charlie Gard—the case involving a desperately ill ...
Why was Charlie Gard denied treatment?
Could Charlie Gard have been saved?
What condition did Charlie Gard have?
What gene mutation did Charlie Gard have?
Is tafida raqeeb still alive?
Who started Charlies law?
What are the ethical issues in the Charlie Gard case?
What is Encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome?
Did Charlie Gards parents have another baby?
Is Charlie Gard still alive?
What is nucleoside bypass therapy?
Does Charlie Gard have a hope of surviving?
Charlie has no hope of surviving, they say, and he should be allowed to die in dignity. Family handout/AP. This is an undated hand out photo of Charlie Gard provided by his family, at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London.
What most Americans found unusual and perhaps radical about the Charlie Gard decision?
What most Americans found unusual “and perhaps radical about (the Charlie Gard) decision was, the family wasn’t asking the hospital to continue treatment or the National Health Service to pay for it. They said, ‘We have the money. We have a doctor in the US who’s willing to do it. Just let us go,’ ” Lantos said.
Where is Charlie Gard dying?
A beautiful boy born 11 months ago is dying in London. The world watches as his parents battle to keep their child alive. Courts will not allow the hospital to release the baby, Charlie Gard, into the parents’ custody so they can travel to try an experimental treatment.
What is Charlie's condition?
Charlie was born with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare condition involving weakened muscles and organ dysfunction , among other symptoms. Because Charlie’s prognosis is so poor, his doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London want to take him off life support. Charlie has no hope of surviving, they say, and he should be allowed to die in dignity.
When did the parents of a terminally ill baby lose their legal battle?
The parents of a terminally-ill baby boy lost the final stage of their legal battle on Tuesday, June27, 2017 to take him out of a British hospital to receive treatment in the U.S., after a European court agreed with previous rulings that the baby should be taken off life support.
Who are Charlie Gard's parents?
Charlie Gard: British baby at the center of global debate. Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, found a doctor in the United States who is offering an experimental treatment. They want the hospital to release their baby so they can take him to the United States. The battle has gone to the courts.
Who talked to Charlie's parents and Charlie's doctors?
The only way to do that is to gather as much information as possible,” Fenton-Glynn said. A judge talked to Charlie’s parents and Charlie’s doctors. The American doctor as well as independent experts were consulted.
Is Charlie Gard deaf?
image caption. Charlie's rare disease has left him unable to cry and made him deaf. The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the parents of sick baby Charlie Gard, over plans to take him to the US for treatment. Chris Gard and Connie Yates want the 10-month old, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, to undergo a therapy trial.
How long is Charlie on life support?
His mother broke down and screamed as the decision was announced. Charlie can stay on life support for 24 hours to give the European Court of Human Rights a chance to give a ruling. He has been in intensive care at Great Ormond Street Hospital since October last year.
Who is Charlie's mother?
Charlie's mother Connie left the court wailing and shouting "they've put us through hell". Chris, Charlie's father, held his head in hands and cried. This may though not be the end. They want to try and take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Who is the mother of Charlie Gard?
Connie Yates, mother of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard, carries a stuffed animal after delivering a petition of signatures supporting their case to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London on Sunday. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images)
What is Charlie's case?
Charlie’s case is somewhat complicated by an extra safeguard in British law. Under the Children Act of 1989, patients in Charlie’s situation can be assigned their own independent legal representative to ensure that their interests are met, rather than the interests of their families. Charlie’s guardian agreed that life support should be withdrawn, ...
Why does Charlie's parents want him to stay on life support?
Charlie’s parents want him to stay on life support so they can try an experimental treatment. What may be disturbing to Americans is the idea ...
What is disturbing to Americans?
What may be disturbing to Americans is the idea that a legal body can decide to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from a patient. At its heart, this is a classic ethical issue. As someone who has served as a clinical ethicist, I can tell you that such cases occur often in hospitals across America.
Where does quality of life decisions come from?
In America, however, numerous state laws explicitly state that quality-of-life determinations and decisions about withdrawing life-sustaining care must come from the patient, his or her family, or another available surrogate, as in New York’s Family Health Care Decisions Act.
Can a clinician withdraw life support?
They can decide, for example, not to resuscitate a patient or not to offer dialysis if they believe it will cause more harm than good. Clinicians cannot, however, withdraw life support without the consent of a decision-maker.
International Transfer and Futility Disputes
The possibility of transferring a patient to another health care institution has long been seen as a potential solution to intractable disagreement between professionals and families. 20 In the North American context, this has sometimes been enshrined in law.
Obstructing Transfer
Why should health professionals seek to impede transfer if there are health professionals willing to provide treatment? I will outline 3 ethical arguments in defense of this approach in select cases.
In Favor of Transfer
However, even if it is accepted that parents’ refusal of treatment may sometimes be overruled, one distinguishing feature of the Gard case (and several others that have reached the courts in the United Kingdom) is that parents had qualified health professionals who were prepared to provide the treatment.
Conclusions: Preventing Harm
It is justified for health systems to obstruct transfer of children for treatment that is believed would cause harm to the child. Of course, that then leads back to the contested question of whether the treatment requested by parents would be harmful.
Competing Interests
POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The author has indicated he has no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
