As the family made the decision to not pursue further therapy. Full editorial below.
"State to his parents: How dare you look for a second opinion."
Charlie Gard has come to the end of the line. On Monday his parents announced they are giving up their appeal to have him undergo experimental treatment in the U.S. for his genetic disorder. Their decision came after the doctor who’d offered it said too much time had elapsed and too much damage had been done.
People can disagree with the best treatment for Charlie: The British doctors certainly disagreed with the American specialist the family invited. In a statement defending the British actions that delayed the treatment until it was too late, Justice Nicholas Francis admitted no “parent could have done more for their child” than Charlie’s had done—but went on to say that in Britain “children have rights independent of their parents.”
What does that mean for an 11-month-old baby? It meant a guardian was appointed to make the case against the parents, and that a court made the final call. The message from these medical and legal officials arrayed against the parents was this: How dare you look for a second opinion.
In her own statement Monday, Connie Yates, Charlie’s mother, noted that all she and her husband wanted was to “take Charlie from one world renowned hospital to another world renowned hospital in the attempt to save his life and to be treated by the world leader in mitochondrial disease.”
This they could not do, because of a system that elevated a judge’s opinion about what was best for Charlie over loving parents. Few should be surprised, because the brutal reality is that when the state is responsible for nearly all health spending it inevitably takes responsibility for life and death decisions too.
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