A High Court judge has directed that a five-month-old baby girl receive life-saving open heart surgery in Dublin next week despite parental objections on religious grounds.
Mr Justice Abbott yesterday told surgeons at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, they could proceed with the transfusion of blood and blood products during an operation next Wednesday to save the life of baby Janice, (not her real name).
Ms Ann Power, counsel for the hospital, told the court that the Jehovah's Witness mother of Janice, who cannot by court order be identified, had withdrawn her consent to further life-saving surgical intervention. She said hole-in-the-heart baby Janice had been born at the Rotunda hospital last March and transferred immediately to the Crumlin hospital for urgent heart surgery.
On March 16th Janice's mother signed a consent for the unqualified use of blood and blood products but following "support" from her Jehovah's Witness community had withdrawn it.
Ms Power said an urgent application had been brought before High Court President Mr Justice Finnegan on March 18th and he had ordered that Janice be made a ward of court and authorised the hospital to provide medical treatment as it deemed appropriate.
As a result of the court's intervention Janice had undergone major heart surgery on March 19th. Although given a 50:50 chance of survival she had recovered well.
Ms Power told the court Janice now required further cardiac surgery and this was scheduled for August 11th after which it was hoped she would make a full recovery. She said the question of non-consent remained and the hospital was asking the court to clarify that existing court orders relating to surgical intervention and the transfusion of blood and blood products continued and applied to all necessary future open heart operations. Ms Power said there was a 5-8 per cent risk involved in the operation but this was considered medically a risk any parent would take on behalf of a critically ill child.
Janice's mother told the court she was living alone in Ireland and her husband and the remainder of her family, none of whom had seen Janice, were living in England. She wished to eventually join them with Janice and was concerned that the wardship of court would restrain her from doing so.
Mr Justice Abbott said he had been satisfied there was a pressing need for new remedial surgery and in case of any doubt it was necessary to have all existing court orders extended unambiguously so as to cover that treatment.
He said he would extend the scope of the orders to encompass such further treatment arising from and consequential to the August 11th operation to obviate the necessity of any further application to the court. He also granted the mother her liberty to apply to the court to lift the court wardship for the purpose of bringing the child to England whenever the acute treatment period was finished in Ireland.