LONDON: A hospital in the Vatican has offered to take in British-born infant Charlie Gard who has a rare genetic disorder and is due to be taken off life support, CNN reported on Wednesday (Jul 5).
The 11-month-old baby's parents are currently caught in a legal tussle over Charlie's fate, after courts had ruled that keeping the him on life support would only prolong his suffering as there was no hope of recovering from the disease which causes progressive muscle weakness, including in key organs such as the heart.
Britain's Supreme Court ruled last month that going to the US for treatment would prolong the baby's suffering without any realistic prospect of helping him. The court would not allow an American doctor found by the couple to be identified and details about the therapy were not available.
The parents asked the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the ruling, but that court last week declined to intervene.
"The offer by the Vatican-owned pediatric hospital in Rome is seen as an effort "to prevent doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London from turning off his life support and to allow his parents to be the ones making the decision on whether to do so," CNN said.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...o-take-in-terminally-ill-british-baby-9005192
The 11-month-old baby's parents are currently caught in a legal tussle over Charlie's fate, after courts had ruled that keeping the him on life support would only prolong his suffering as there was no hope of recovering from the disease which causes progressive muscle weakness, including in key organs such as the heart.
Britain's Supreme Court ruled last month that going to the US for treatment would prolong the baby's suffering without any realistic prospect of helping him. The court would not allow an American doctor found by the couple to be identified and details about the therapy were not available.
The parents asked the European Court of Human Rights to overturn the ruling, but that court last week declined to intervene.
"The offer by the Vatican-owned pediatric hospital in Rome is seen as an effort "to prevent doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London from turning off his life support and to allow his parents to be the ones making the decision on whether to do so," CNN said.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...o-take-in-terminally-ill-british-baby-9005192
