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06 October 2011
Issue: 7484 / Categories: Case law , Law reports , In Court
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Mental health—Persons who lack capacity—Withdrawal of life sustaining treatment

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Re M [2011] EWHC 2443 (Fam), [2011] All ER (D) 142 (Sep)

Court of Protection, Scott Baker LJ, 28 Sep 2011

The Court of Protection has ruled that withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from a person in a minimally conscious state was not, in the circumstances, in that person’s best interests; the court also made general observations for future cases.

Vikram Sachdeva and Victoria Butler-Cole (instructed by Irwin Mitchell) for W. Caroline Harry Thomas QC and Katherine Apps (instructed by the Official Solicitor) for M. Bridget Dolan (instructed by Beachcroft LLP) for the Primary Care Trust.

The proceedings concerned M. In 2003, aged 43, she fell into a coma and was found to be suffering viral encephalitis which left her with extensive and irreparable brain damage. From that time she remained in a minimally conscious state (MCS), which was slightly higher than a permanent vegetative state (VS). Her status had been assessed by methods called “sensory modality assessment and rehabilitation technique” (SMART) and “Wessex head injury

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