Top 12 myths of Archie Battersbee’s case

Aug 12, 2022 by Jill

by Andrea Williams, Christian Concern:

Myth 1: Archie was brain dead, according to his doctors

Truth: No doctor ever diagnosed Archie as brain dead. The established test for diagnosing brain stem death could not be carried out.

Some doctors said Archie was “likely” to be brain dead based on MRI and CT scans, but the same doctors said in the same breath that he had a 1-5% chance of making some recovery.

Some other eminent doctors, such as Professor Alan Shewmon, the top expert in diagnosing death who gave evidence in Court, disagreed, and even questioned the whole concept of brain death.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot found in June that Archie was brain-dead “on the balance of probabilities” (para 179), which is the standard of proof in civil litigation, but not the standard applied by the medical profession to diagnosing death. The Court of Appeal then said Mrs Justice Arbuthnot was wrong to do so and should have instead considered Archie’s best interests on the basis that he is alive.

Myth 2: By keeping Archie alive, NHS would be wasting resources needed for treating other children

Truth: The treating consultant who gave evidence in Court specifically assured the Court that considerations about resources had no influence whatsoever on the Hospital’s decisions.

When the family’s Counsel suggested to the same witness that the Hospital wanted to withdraw life support to save resources, Mr Justice Hayden intervened to declare the question entirely inappropriate and directed that it should not be answered, and the allegation was self-evidently baseless.

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See also: Archie Battersby: Christian Institute endorses parents’ legal struggle, Christian Institute

Catholic groups call for rethink following legal disputes around life of Archie Battersbee by Marcus Jones, Premier