{"id":237316,"date":"2021-01-02T15:43:16","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T21:43:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=237316"},"modified":"2021-01-08T09:46:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T15:46:07","slug":"polish-government-citizen-hospitalized-uk-starved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/polish-government-citizen-hospitalized-uk-starved\/","title":{"rendered":"Polish government insists citizen hospitalized in UK must not be starved to death"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

UPDATE: 1\/8\/2021:<\/strong> Christian Today reports<\/a> that the Court of Protection ruled nutrition can be removed again from R.S., despite evidence from consultant neurologist and Catholic priest, Rev Dr Patrick Pullicino. Pullicino told the court that the patient’s condition has improved, and he has a 50% chance of making a full recovery. Yet the judge said Pullicino was not a “satisfactory witness,” and also denied requests for R.S. to be moved to Poland, saying he might die in transit.<\/p>\n

“I am devastated that the British authorities have decided to dehydrate my son to death. I want to take my son back to his own country, where I would be allowed to care for him,” his mother said. “What the British authorities are trying to do to my son is euthanasia by a back door.”<\/p>\n

This case is reminiscent of both Charlie Gard<\/a> and Alfie Evans<\/a>, children who also were forcibly killed by UK hospitals against their families’ wishes. Courts likewise refused to allow either child to be moved to hospitals in other countries who were willing to provide care for them. <\/p>\n

1\/2\/2021:<\/strong>(LifeSiteNews<\/a>) A Polish patient in England resumed receiving life-sustaining treatment after his birth family and the Polish government made applications to the British court and to the European Court of Human Rights.<\/p>\n

The patient, known only as \u201cRS\u201d or \u201cP,\u201d resumed nutrition and hydration on December 28. He is able to breathe on his own.<\/p>\n

Today Mr Justice Cohen allowed a continued stay of his order to discontinue treatment to the patient, originally made on December 15, until January 7 at 4:00 p.m., in the expectation that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will have by then addressed the current application regarding the patient\u2019s case. This means that RS will continue receiving hydration and nutrition through tubes until that hour.<\/p>\n

However, the judge rejected an application by the family and the Republic of Poland that RS be airlifted to Poland and be treated there. He accepts the opinion of RS\u2019s doctors that he is moving from a coma to a so-called vegetative state, and that it is not in his best interests to be kept alive through medical intervention.<\/p>\n

The decision followed a flurry of activity on the disabled patient\u2019s behalf by the Polish government. According to Britain\u2019s Christian Concern, after water and nutrition were withheld from \u201cRS\u201d on Christmas Eve, Poland\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zbigniew Rau, wrote an official letter to the U.K.\u2019s Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab. Rau asked his British counterpart for an urgent \u201chelp and intervention\u201d in order to get food and water back to RS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe letter requests Britain\u2019s cooperation in repatriating RS to Poland by Polish Medical Air Rescue, where he is to be treated at Central Clinical Hospital of the Interior Ministry,\u201d Christian Concern stated in a press release yesterday.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Non-terminally ill UK man kept in a coma and denied food and water has died<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Polish government then made an urgent appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, echoing RS\u2019s birth family\u2019s argument that RS\u2019s \u201cright to life\u201d is being violated by the U.K., and asking that the ECHR order his repatriation to Poland.<\/p>\n

The ECHR has rejected this and a second application. The current application is still to be considered.<\/p>\n

At an out-of-hours court hearing on the evening of December 28, Mr Justice Holman suspended the decision to withdraw nutrition and water from RS until the case was reconsidered by Mr Justice Cohen. On December 29, one of RS\u2019s doctors did a videotaped assessment of his condition and concluded that his lack of responsiveness suggested that he was in a vegetative state.<\/p>\n

On December 30, Mr Justice Cohen heard evidence from a neurologist who had seen videotaped clips of RS taken by his niece and her family and, based on the clips and the niece\u2019s testimony, believed RS\u2019s state might improve. On December 31, the judge noted that these clips, which comprised three minutes of video in total, had been taken without permission from RS\u2019s doctors, the hospital, or RS\u2019s wife. He stated that he did not find this neurologist a \u201csatisfactory witness\u201d and that he placed no weight on his evidence. Because there has been no improvement in RS\u2019s condition since his December 15 order, Cohen said there is no reason it would be in RS\u2019s best interests to continue life-sustaining treatment.<\/p>\n

RS suffered severe brain damage after a heart attack at his home in England\u2019s West Midlands on November 6. Doctors treating RS believe that he will never recover beyond \u201cminimal consciousness\u201d and could live for another five years. They believe also that his continued life would not be \u201cmeaningful.\u201d A legal team for the NHS Trust responsible for RS\u2019s care asked a Court of Protection to rule that it would be lawful to discontinue life-sustaining treatment for RS, which meant the removal of his feeding and hydration tubes.<\/p>\n

RS’s wife, who testified that RS said that he never wanted to be a \u201cburden on his family,\u201d supported the NHS\u2019s application that all medical intervention sustaining his life should end. However, RS\u2019s extended family, including his mother and sister in Poland, and a sister and niece in England, object to his state-sanctioned killing, arguing that as a church-attending Roman Catholic who was opposed to both abortion and euthanasia, RS would not wish his life to end in this manner. RS\u2019s sister in Poland told LifeSiteNews<\/a>that RS had been \u201cfurious\u201d with a U.K. judicial decision to remove all life-sustaining medical support for infant Alfie Evans.<\/p>\n

In a hearing held on December 15, Mr Justice Cohen sided with the NHS and RS\u2019s wife, saying that removal of life support would be in RS \u201cbest interests.\u201d On December 23, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Peter Jackson turned down an application for an appeal by a legal team representing RS\u2019s birth family.<\/p>\n

A transparency order prevents the publication of the names of the patient, his family, and his doctors.<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This article was published at LifeSiteNews<\/a> and is reprinted here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: 1\/8\/2021: Christian Today reports that the Court of Protection ruled nutrition can be removed again from R.S., despite evidence from consultant neurologist and Catholic priest, Rev Dr Patrick Pullicino. Pullicino told the court that the patient’s condition has improved, and he has a 50% chance of making a full recovery. Yet the judge said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":187043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,7,5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPolish government insists citizen hospitalized in UK must not be starved to death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Polish patient in England resumed receiving life-sustaining treatment after his birth family and the Polish government made a plea to two courts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/polish-government-citizen-hospitalized-uk-starved\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Polish government insists citizen hospitalized in 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