[Right_to_die] UK court to make vital, first-time decision on brain-damaged woman

[World right-to-die news list (nonprofit)]

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The Independent in London reported 26 July 2011:

Nurses speak out against family in right-to-die case

By Tom Peck

A "profoundly" brain-damaged woman whose relatives say should be allowed 
to die responds to music and conversation and tries to communicate, 
according to a nurse in charge of her team of carers.

The woman's relatives want her "artificial nutrition and hydration" 
withdrawn, but a lawyer appointed by the Court of Protection [UK] to 
represent her interests opposes the application, arguing she is 
"otherwise clinically stable" and "has signs of awareness".

The case is thought to be the first time a judge has been asked to rule 
on whether life-supporting treatment should be withdrawn from a person 
who is not in a persistent vegetative state but is "minimally 
conscious". The woman cannot be named for legal reasons. The nurse's 
views were outlined in a written witness statement, heard by the High 
Court Judge Mr Justice Baker yesterday.

In the statement, the nurse – who also cannot be named – says she fears 
the woman's relatives do not "fully understand" how "unpleasant" 
withdrawing treatment might be.

Mr Justice Baker says the case is "unique" and it raises "very important 
issues of principle". He has heard how the woman suffered "profound 
brain damage" in early 2003 after being diagnosed with viral encephalitis.

The woman was in a coma for several weeks and had initially been thought 
to be in a persistent vegetative state. But doctors later concluded that 
she was in fact minimally conscious.
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