Titre : | The cases of Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard who should decide when to end a therapy? (2019) |
Auteurs : | M. Laszewska-Hellriegel |
Type de document : | Article : texte imprimé |
Dans : | Éthique & santé (vol. 16, n° 2, Juin 2019) |
Article en page(s) : | p. 71-80 |
Note générale : | dans dossier « Ethique au quotidien : du droit à la pratique » |
Langues: | Anglais |
Sujets : |
Paramédical (MeSH) Défense des droits de l'enfant ; Droits des patients ; Enfant ; Éthique ; Euthanasie active ; Information aux parents ; Parents ; Relations famille-professionnel de santé ; Soins terminaux |
Résumé : |
In the spring of 2018, Alfie Evans died in a Liverpool hospital. Alfie was suffering from a severe neurodegenerative disorder and was treated in intensive care. Alfie's parents wanted to continue the treatment; Alfie's doctors thought that it would be better for him to end the life sustaining therapy. The High Court decided, on 20 February 2018, that life sustaining care provided by the hospital to Alfie was not in his best interests. Alfie's parents started their way through a number of (ineffective) appeals in front of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights. This case was very similar to a previous case – Charlie Gard against Great Britain. Charlie Gard died in 2017, after a long and difficult court battle between his parents and the healthcare system. The first aim of this article is to propose a way out of the overlapping and conflicting rules – the child's best interests, parental decision making, and the right to life. To this end, the article looks at the international law provisions that should be considered in these cases. I also deal with the crucial ethical question that arises in both cases: who is to decide what are the child's best interests? The second aim is to argue that what we need more is doctors, lawyers, ethicists, politicians, and parents working together, because the situations that took place during the two mentioned cases are ethically questionable. There is a need for a new policy. The third addressed problem is the dilemma when to end a therapy and what to do when other professionals offer to continue it. |
Résolveur de lien : | DOI : 10.1016/j.etiqe.2019.03.003 |
Exemplaires (1)
Localisation | Section | Support | Cote de rangement | Statut | Disponibilité |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bibliothèque Paramédicale | Périodiques | Périodique | ETH. SAN. 19-2 | Empruntable | Disponible |