Unconstituted on Red

Luke Winston-Jones

The baby with Edwards syndrome, (also known as Trisomy 18, a condition causing the manifestation of an extra chromosome), amongst other complications passed away last November during a case before the High Court ruling as to the legality of not mechanically ventillating young Luke in the case of another heart attack. Alder Hey hospital, (at the centre of the organ scandal where over a 1000 foetuses and stillborn babies predating 1980 were recently found), sent for the decision as fewer than 10% of babies born with the rare Edwards syndrome live at most for a year.

The High Court ruled that should there be a further cardiorespiratory arrest mechanical ventilation should not be used as a means of resuscitation, however cardiac massge may be used as was held on a last minute concession by the hospital. Dame Elizabeth Butler Sloss commented that 'both hospitals and particularly the mother and her family should turn over a new leaf and move on'.

Dame EBS obviously means 'start again' when she says 'move on' which, in the grand scheme of things, is not really moving on at all. Progression is moving on. An advance of the current state of human knowledge and improvement of method is moving on. Should the courts have ruled, in line with the wishes of Luke Winston-Jones' mother, to keep the baby alive at all costs there could have been a new technique sought from overseas that knowledge could be drawn from to use on the next prematurely born facing similar odds at survival.

The money and time spent on the court battle could easily have been used in seeking out medical opinions on new techniques, rather than seeking out medical opinion as to Luke's chances of survival which were obviously slim. Perhaps if this agenda were applied to Charlotte Wyatt, (a baby in similar circumstances with a court ruling only two weeks prior to the Jones' case), during her lifetime something could have been learned to help young Luke.

The protocol of law saps time and energy from those involved in it. Doctors should exercise their discretion with a life saving outlook braced to push the boundaries of medical science. How much unneccessary time did Alder Hey spend with lawyers and in court that could have been spent on oversea consultation?

You can leave your opinions for the consideration of the next General Medical Council meeting on 'good medical practice' at, www.gmc-uk.org/forms/gmp_feedback.htm the deadline for comments was the 26th November, but as the meeting hasn't been held yet I'm sure they'll still be accepting them.

posted by Wanderlust @ 10:36 AM