U.K. Baby Wyatt Shouldn't Get Life-Saving Treatment, Court Says

U.K. Baby Wyatt Shouldn't Get Life-Saving Treatment, Court Says

April 21 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. judge today refused to lift an order allowing doctors to let a brain-damaged child die if her condition worsens.

Doctors at a Portsmouth hospital in October 2004 won the legal right not to perform ``aggressive'' life-saving treatment on 18-month-old Charlotte Wyatt, who suffers from severe brain, kidney and lung damage and requires a constant supply of oxygen.

Her parents, Darren and Debbie Wyatt, had asked the court to overturn the order on the grounds Charlotte's condition may improve.

Justice Mark Hedley today told the court that Charlotte shouldn't receive ``invasive, intensive'' treatment if she has a medical crisis.

``I'm quite clear that it would not be in Charlotte's best interests to die in the pursuit of futile, aggressive treatment,'' Hedley told the court.

A brain-damaged Florida woman, Terri Schiavo, last month became the focus of a national debate when U.S. courts declined to bar the disconnection of her life-sustaining feeding and drinking tube after a seven-year legal battle between her parents and her husband. Schiavo died on March 31.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Megan Murphy in London at mmurphy41@bloomberg.net.