In a landmark ruling a judge has ruled that in future, in decisions concerning the withdrawal of life-support, including artificial feeding and hydration, a judge's consent is no longer required in cases where medical opinion and relative's wishes agree that the cessation is in the patient's best interests. The story is reported widely, including by [...]
A BBC investigation attempted to find out how many minimally conscious patients were being kept alive in the UK. All the UK health authorities were asked, but only about one quarter were able to provide data. Those that did revealed 105 cases. Given the poor response, it seems reasonable to estimate that the total number [...]
The case of Paul Briggs, reported in the Daily Telegraph and other papers, highlights why everyone should write an Advance Decision (AD) to refuse medical treatment in case they are ever in a situation where they would wish to refuse treatment, but are unable to speak for themselves. Mr Briggs situation shows how this could [...]