End of life decisions

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust v KM (by his litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) and Others [2021] EWCOP 42

The Court of Protection decided a case in May 2021 concerning the use of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, whereby blood is pumped outside of the body to a heart-lung machine that removes carbon dioxide and sends oxygen-filled blood back to tissues in the body. The judgment has been published very recently. The patient in question had suffered catastrophic damage as a result of deep vein thrombosis and was being treated using an ECMO machine.