BRITAIN: The parents of a three-month-old girl, who opposed hospital care for their daughter's disfiguring facial condition were locked in a legal battle with social services yesterday over her future medical treatment.
Ms Suzanne Taylor's and Mr Aziz Rafi's daughter suffers from Goldenhar's Syndrome, a rare condition that meant she was born without an ear and eye on the right side of her face. Her nose is not properly formed which can cause breathing problems. When her parents refused treatment at Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to help her breathe because they felt it was unnecessary, threatening to remove her from the intensive care unit, the hospital obtained a 72-hour police protection order to keep the baby there.
The protection order ran out yesterday afternoon and social services and the hospital went to court to secure a further 24-hour interim protection order ensuring the baby, who cannot be named, remained at the hospital.
The row erupted on Sunday when the parents opposed plans to perform an exploratory procedure to assess the baby's breathing and a possible tracheotomy - which involves puncturing the windpipe - to reduce the risk of respiratory arrest.
The parents denied consent,insisting the procedures were unnecessary because their daughter had undergone similar procedures in Riyadh where she was born in December.
Ms Taylor also said she opposed the treatment because she feared the hospital wanted to use her daughter's condition as an experiment. "I cannot let them do this to my daughter if she does not need it," she said.
Mr Rafi is a Muslim but a spokeswoman for the Royal Victoria Infirmary told The Irish Times that the couple had not raised objections about treatment on grounds of religion.