Description
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) Parental Rights Best Interests and Significant Harms: Medical Decision-Making on Behalf of Children Post-Great Ormond Street Hospital v Gard by Edited by Dr Imogen Goold Edited by Jonathan Herring Edited by Cressida Auckland
The question of how decisions are made in respect of a child’s medical treatment has become a matter of significant public controversy following the highly publicised cases of Charlie Gard (iGreat Ormond Street Hospital v Yates/i [2017]) and Alfie Evans (iAlder Hey Childrens NHS Foundation Trust v Evans et al/i [2018]). In light of this context this timely collection brings together commentators from law medical ethics and clinical medicine actively drawing on the view from the clinic as well as philosophical legal and sociological perspectives on the crucial question of who should decide about the fate of a child suffering from a serious illness. In particular the collection looks at whether the current ‘best interests’ threshold is the appropriate boundary for legal intervention or whether it is appropriate to adopt the ‘risk of significant harm’ approach proposed in iYates/i. Moreover it explores the respective roles of parents doctors and the courts and the possible risks of inappropriate state intrusion in parental decision-making and how we might address them.