An NHS Foundation Trust v AB
The issue in this case was whether, as the trust asserted, AB lacked capacity to make decisions about treatment relating to anorexia nervosa. She had suffered from this condition since the age of 13 and was now 28. All treatment, including nasogastric tube feeding which was the only life-prolonging treatment now on offer, had failed, and her weight of just under 26 kg (a body mass index of 9.7) was incompatible with life. Tube feeding now would cause her enormous trauma, put her at significant physical risk and could itself be fatal. The court found that AB’s anorexia was so chronic and severe that any decision she made about food, calories or weight gain could not be considered capacitous. The court also agreed that it was not in AB’s best interests to undergo further tube feeding, with or without restraint. AB died on 23 August 2020, before her application for permission to appeal the capacity decision was listed.
This article was first published by Lexis®PSL on 26 August 2020, please click here to view the full article.
Katie Gollop QC was instructed in this case by Laura Hobey-Hamsher of Bindmans LLP.