moksha wrote:... nucleoside therapy has not even been tried on a mouse model with RRM2B.
Perceptive penguin.
This is not one of those cases where a sick child is brought to the US for a 'miracle treatment' that makes it better. As the judge noted in the first hearing, the treatment in question has not even been tested on an animal with the genetic disorder from which this child suffers. The US doctor in question recognises that the child is 'in the terminal stage of his illness'.
The child has a heavily damaged brain, progressively wasting muscles, and suffers from convulsions. We cannot tell whether he has a nervous system capable of perceiving stimuli, but if he does it is likely that he is feeling pretty bad.
The role of the court is to ask the hard question: is the near certainty of inflicting more suffering on the child worth the tiny chance that his life might be - slightly - prolonged?
And, sadly, there may be times when parents are not the best people to take that decision.