Judge to rule in first Covid ‘end-of-life’ case in Britain

A High Court judge must decide whether a woman left paralysed by coronavirus should have her care stopped in the country's Covid-19 first end-of-life case

 

The patient, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was left brain-damaged and paralysed from the neck down after being admitted to hospital with Covid-19.

 

Specialists treating the woman at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge argue that life-support treatment should end because her condition cannot be improved. The woman, who is in her 50s, is diabetic and overweight and has other health conditions including hyperparathyroidism and gall stones.

 

The patients' sister and children are challenging the experts and claim that she would not want to die in this manner, and allege that the hospital is attempting to "cover up" some of the "negligent" treatment she had received while a patient there. 

 

The case is being heard in London at the Court of Protection, where judges oversee hearings on adults who lack the mental capacity to make decisions. Vice-president of the court, Mr Justice Hayden, said: "It is the first time a court has been asked to consider an end-of-life case, as a result of Covid. I suspect therefore it is a case that will attract a lot of public attention." The judge is set to hear evidence from specialists and the woman's relatives. 

 

Barrister Katie Gollop QC, who is representing the hospital, told the judge the woman had gone into Addenbrooke's on an "emergency basis" late in 2020 and was on a ventilator. She said the woman was "almost entirely paralysed", adding: "There is nothing they can do to make any aspect of her condition better." However the lead of the woman's legal team, Nageena Khalique QC, presented the family's argument that the patient "would not want to end her life in this way" because she has a "strong religious conviction" and it would be "tantamount to suicide". 

 

The case continues.