British Court Allows Clinicians to Stop Treatment for Dead Baby (Midrar Ali)

The British High Court has again ruled with clinicians in a brain death conflict. 

Sadly, four-month-old Midrar Ali suffered a catastrophic anoxic brain injury during birth. By October 2019, clinicians at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester determined that Midrar was dead. 

But his parents contested that determination. They argued that the tests were not properly administered. They argued that clinicians did not obtain their consent to perform the tests. They argued that Midrar moved in response to external stimuli. They argued that the court should use a "best interest" analysis typically used in end-of-life treatment conflicts.

The court rejected relevance of the best interest test, because if the baby is dead, then there is no individual for whom best interests can be weighed. Instead, the court made two factual determination. First, generally accepted medical criteria for death by neurological are valid. Second, the overwhelming evidence shows that those criteria are met in this case.