New York/London - A British court is expected to decide next
week whether terminally ill baby Charlie Gard can be taken to the US
for experimental treatment, according to British media reports.
A High Court judge will review new expert evidence which Charlie's
parents hope will convince him to change his mind and allow their
child to be taken to New York for treatment.
Columbia University neurology professor Michio Hirano visited Charlie
in London on Monday and Tuesday to examine him and meet with doctors
from Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is being treated.
Hirano says that Charlie's condition could be significantly improved
with the help of experimental therapy, but specialists at Great
Ormond Street Hospital said a therapy proposed by the boy's parents,
Chris Gard and Connie Yates, was experimental and would not help.
British and European courts have upheld lower court rulings that the
infant's life support should be ended so that he could die with
dignity.
Charlie suffers from a rare genetic condition called mitochondrial
DNA depletion syndrome that causes progressive muscle weakness and
has left him with brain damage and unable to breathe without a
ventilator.