Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust v LM [2014] EWHC 454 (COP), [2014] MHLO 14
"On 18 February, an application was made by the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust for a declaration that it would be lawful to withhold a blood transfusion from LM, a gravely ill 63-year-old female Jehovah's Witness. ...At the end of the hearing I granted the application and made the following declaration: 'It shall be lawful for the doctors treating LM to withhold blood transfusions or administration of blood products notwithstanding that such treatments would reduce the likelihood of her dying and might prevent her death.' ... I find that LM made a decision that the doctors rightly considered must be respected. In the alternative, if LM had not made a valid, applicable decision, I would have granted the declaration sought on the basis that to order a transfusion would not have been in her best interests. Applying s.4(6) in relation to the specific issue of blood transfusion, her wishes and feelings and her long-standing beliefs and values carried determinative weight. ... The court has jurisdiction to make an order during the lifetime of a patient that will continue to have effect after death unless and until it is varied: Re C (Adult Patient: Restriction of Publicity After Death [1996] 1 FCR 605. The situation here is different in that the patient is no longer alive. The unusual circumstances raise interesting questions about the court's jurisdiction to restrict the reporting after a person's death of information gathered during proceedings that took place during her lifetime. It seems to me that the proper approach is to make an order that preserves the situation until the time comes when someone seeks to present full argument on the question."
Related judgments
Press Association v Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust [2014] EWCOP 6, [2014] MHLO 68
Citations
Bailii has changed the neutral citation to: [2014] EWCOP 454B