Isaiah Haastrup: High Court rules in favour of stopping life-support treatment for 11-month-old toddler
Landmark ruling authorises doctors to stop life-support treatment against parents' wishes.
A High Court judge has ruled doctors at King's College Hospital can stop providing life-support treatment for a 11-month-old baby, against his parents' wishes.
Doctors at the London hospital have argued that continued provision of intensive care to Isaiah Haastrup is "futile" and not in his best interest.
The 11-month-old toddler is brain-damaged after he was deprived of oxygen at birth, in what the medical team described as a "catastrophic" incident. The specialists who have looked after him have argued he had a low level of consciousness and neither move nor breathe independently.
Haastrup is connected to a ventilator but his parents and the doctors disagree over his level of responsiveness, with the former suggesting he reacts to his mother's touch.
The toddler's parents had stated they wished to continue treatment in the hope their son would eventually get better. However, barrister Fiona Paterson, representing King's College NHS foundation trust, told the judge that the "overwhelming medical evidence" suggested Haastrup's conditions would not improve.
Paterson acknowledged the turmoil suffered by the baby's parents would be impossible to understand but said the medical team had agreed it was in his best interest to stop life-support treatment.
