Teen with SEVERE eating disorder dies after judge allows doctors to stop treatment if she wanted
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: A 19-year-old woman with a severe eating disorder called anorexia nervosa died two months after a judge ruled that doctors could stop with her treatment, according to a report.
The young woman, identified only as BG, was being provided with "artificial nutrition and hydration". The Court of Protection considers mental capacity of a person to make decisions for themselves.
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Judge Sir Jonathan Cohen announced her passing on Friday, July 29, 2022, as "tragic and deeply distressing". The court's hearing has raised serious questions on an individual’s right to make decisions about their own life and death. Evidence presented to the judge showed that BG wanted the right to end her own treatment if she wished after suffering from mental health issues for over a decade.
Experts had said during the hearing that "nothing more" could be done to help her overcome a host of complex mental health issues and it fell to the court to make a "grave" decision over whether she had the capacity to refuse food and water substitutes.
Judge Cohen said that this was "quite unlike any that I have come across."
He said, "To be asked to make an order which will be likely to lead to the death of a sentient, highly intelligent and thoughtful individual who, if otherwise able and minded, might accept treatment which could assist her is as grave a decision as can be made."
The judge added, "Simply because all the evidence points one way does not extinguish the burden. But, in the tragic and deeply distressing circumstances of this case, I am in no doubt that it is in BG’s best interests that I made the various declarations."
The teenager's mental health issues, coupled with her being in hospital "almost continually" for three years, were the reasons behind such a decision. He said, "BG has made it completely clear over a prolonged period of time that she would wish to take her own decision and exercise her own autonomy over her body," adding, "Her very clear decision is that she wishes to be discharged from hospital, to go home and determine for herself, what if any nutrition or hydration she takes."
The judge continued, "This is not a sudden decision. It has been a long and deeply held wish of hers." According to the judge, he was propelled to such a decision after reading the teenager's diary which described "her suffering and how it should be resolved."
The parents of the teenager told the court that they agreed their child be allowed to make decisions regarding her own treatment, even if it means her refusing further help.
Initially, any reporting of the case was banned by the court. However, the ban was lifted in May after a journalist argued in court the seriousness of such a decision should not be hidden and must be disclosed in public.
Full details of the order were divulged to the public after BG's death.