Parents and HSE agree boy's treatment

An action in which the HSE sought court orders permitting doctors to continue cancer treatment for a four-year-old boy against…

An action in which the HSE sought court orders permitting doctors to continue cancer treatment for a four-year-old boy against the wishes of his parents has been settled.

The boy, who has leukaemia and also has Down syndrome, underwent 23 weeks of cancer treatment last year. His parents objected to further treatment because of the distress it was causing him and sought a second medical opinion from abroad. The case was adjourned to allow the parents to seek that opinion and to allow questions which they had raised to be answered. The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, was told yesterday a treatment regime had been agreed between the parents and the hospital.

He agreed to hear in private details of what had been agreed. No order was required in relation to the case.