Doctors can stop treating man who suffered brain damage in car crash – judge

Specialists, who said the man was in a ‘persistent vegetative state’ and would not recover, thought treatment should end – relatives disagreed.

The judge had heard evidence at a recent hearing in the Court of Protection (PA) (PA Archive)

Doctors can lawfully stop providing life-support treatment to a father-of-two who suffered “catastrophic” brain damage in a car accident early this year, a judge has ruled.

Bosses at Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which is based in Denmark Hill, London, had asked Mrs Justice Theis to decide what moves were in the 27-year-old man’s best interests.

Doctors, who said the man was in a “persistent vegetative state” and would not recover, thought treatment should end.

Relatives had said there were signs of “response” and asked the judge to give the man “more time”.

Mrs Justice Theis said the evidence pointed in “one direction”.

The judge had heard evidence at a recent hearing in the Court of Protection, where judges consider issues relating to people who may not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves, in London.

There is, in my judgment, overall no benefit to (him) in continuing the treatment, due to his lack of awareness and the bleak medical prognosis

Mrs Justice Theis

“Very sadly, the medical evidence points in one direction,” she said in a written ruling on the case.

“There is, in my judgment, overall no benefit to (him) in continuing the treatment, due to his lack of awareness and the bleak medical prognosis.

“In those circumstances, his best interests are met by the withdrawal of treatment.”

She said the man could not be identified in media reports of the case.