Ms B v An NHS Hospital Trust''
[2002
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EWHC 429 (Fam)is a decision of the United Kingdom

High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...

which ruled that if a patient is mentally competent, they have the right to refuse life saving medical treatment.

Facts

The case arose from a challenge by 'Ms B', who had become paralysed from the neck down after a spinal haemorrhage, to the hospital caring for her after doctors refused her requests to be taken off the ventilator that was keeping her alive. Ms B had previously suffered a haemorrhage on her spine, for which she was successfully rehabilitated, and was advised that any future haemorrhaging would likely cause severe disability. Because of that advice, Ms B took out a

living will ''Living Will'' is an American comedy film starring Ryan Dunn, Gerard Haitz and April Scott. Cast *Ryan Dunn - Belcher *Gerard Haitz - Will *April Scott - Krista Production In 2011, the domestic distribution rights to the film were purchased ...

stating that if she were to ever be unable to give instructions, she would want any medical treatment withdrawn in the case of a life-threatening illness, permanent mental impairment or permanent unconsciousness. Despite the existence of the living will, Ms B's doctors denied her request to be removed from ventilation claiming the living will was too vague, after which she made a formal request through her solicitor. Before acting on the formal request, the hospital organised two independent psychiatric assessments of Ms B. She eventually underwent multiple assessments over five months due to the conflicting opinions of psychiatrists. After finally being declared mentally competent, Ms B was not granted her wish to be removed from ventilation but was instead given two alternative options: slow weaning from the ventilator without pain relief or being sent to a hospice, both of which she refused. Ms B's request was then taken to the

's Family Division for a decision. Following the court's decision in her favour, Ms B was moved to a hospital that removed her from ventilation, where she died on April 29, 2002.

Judgement

In her judgement,

Elizabeth Butler-Sloss Ann Elizabeth Oldfield Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-Sloss, GBE, PC (''née'' Havers; born 10 August 1933), is a retired English judge. She was the first female Lord Justice of Appeal and was the highest-ranking female judge in the United King ...

ruled that she was 'entirely satisfied that Ms B is competent to make all relevant decisions about her medical treatment including the decision whether to seek to withdraw from artificial ventilation. Her mental competence is commensurate with the gravity of the decision she may wish to make.' She also ruled that Ms B had been treated unlawfully by the hospital since the time she had been assessed as mentally competent. The judgement cited contributing factors to unlawful treatment were the inability of hospital staff to consider Ms B's request objectively; offering her treatments that prioritised doctors and clinicians over Ms B; the Hospital Trust not providing guidance for staff for deciding ethical issues.

Other cases

The announcement of Ms B's death came on the same day a woman paralysed from the neck down from advanced

motor neuron disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

Diane Pretty Diane Pretty (15 November 1958 – 11 May 2002) was a British woman from Luton who was the focus of a debate about the laws of euthanasia in the United Kingdom during the early part of the 21st century. She had attempted to change British law so sh ...

, lost a legal battle in the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

for the right to die with the help of her husband. Despite the difference between Ms B seeking removal of treatment and Diane Pretty seeking assisted suicide, the similarities between the cases sparked public debate about inconsistencies in the law regarding the

right to die The right to die is a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often understood that a person with a terminal illness, incurable pain, or without ...

.{{Cite journal, last=Singer, first=P., date=2002-08-01, title=Ms B and Diane Pretty: a commentary, journal=Journal of Medical Ethics, language=en, volume=28, issue=4, pages=234–235, doi=10.1136/jme.28.4.234, issn=0306-6800, pmid=12161575, pmc=1733618, doi-access=free

References

Assisted suicide English family case law