Ill man wins 'right to live'

2004-07-30 18:38

London - A terminally ill British man who feared he might be denied food and water at the end of his life won a court judgment on Friday that physicians and hospitals must honour a patient's wish for life-prolonging treatment.

Leslie Burke, 44, of Lancaster, who has a degenerative brain disease, had challenged guidelines by the General Medical Council on withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment.

Burke said he feared that when he loses the ability to communicate, he might be denied food and water and die within three weeks of starvation or thirst.

"The judgment represents a significant shift in the balance of power away from the doctor to the patient and from the medical profession to the courts," said Paul Conrathe, one of Burke's attorneys.

The court, Conrathe said, ruled that a patient's request for life-prolonging treatment "was not just a factor to be taken into account when the doctor made the decision. The request had to be acted upon."

The General Medical Council, which certifies the qualifications of physicians, was granted permission to appeal, though it made no decision immediately on whether it would.

The council had opposed Burke in court, arguing that he had misinterpreted the guidance. Nothing in the guidance would permit or encourage doctors to withhold food and water contrary to Burke's wishes, the GMC said.

Justice James Munby said in his ruling that most of the GMC guidelines represented a "compelling piece of work," but agreed with Burke's concern.

Munby faulted one paragraph of the guidance for failing "to recognise that the decision of a competent patient that artificial nutrition and hydration should be provided is determinative of the best interests of the patient."

- AP