Six-year-old girl at centre of life-support treatment case dies

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/13/six-year-old-girl-at-centre-of-court-case-over-life-support-treatment-dies

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A six-year-old girl who was at the centre of a high court life-support treatment dispute has died, lawyers have said.

Doctors treating the child had said she should stop receiving life-support treatment and move to a palliative care regime, but her parents, who are also doctors, disagreed.

Bosses at an NHS hospital trust responsible for the girl’s care had asked a judge to decide what moves were in her best interests, and a trial was due to take place in the family division of the high court in London.

But lawyers say the child has died.

Judges overseeing preliminary hearings in London were told that she had a “severe and progressive life-limiting neurodegenerative disorder” and her condition was terminal.

They ruled the child, who lived in the north of England, could not be identified in media reports of the case.