Withholding of life sustaining treatment

Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v James and others [2013] EWCA Civ 65

Counsel: For the appellant: Vikram SachdevaFor the first respondent: Claire WatsonFor the second and third respondents: Ian Wise QCSolicitors: For the appellant: Hill Dickinson LLPFor the first respondent: Official SolicitorFor the second and third respondents: Jackson and Canter

The Court of Appeal has held that it was in a patient’s best interests to have life-sustaining treatment withheld where treatment would be futile and extremely difficult to endure, and the patient would never recover enough from multiple organ failure to leave hospital.