The parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard, who attracted the support of Donald Trump and Pope Francis, have ended a legal challenge that sought to win permission to take him to the U.S. for experimental treatment.
Grant Armstrong , a lawyer representing parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates said in Britain's High Court Monday that "time had run out" for the child, according to the BBC.
Gard and Yates wanted to take Charlie—who has a severe condition called infantile onset encephalomyopathy mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome—to the U.S. because an anonymous physician there had agreed to provide an experimental treatment known as nucleoside therapy.
But the European Court of Human Rights had in June backed the view of doctors from Great Ormond Street, London, the hospital where Charlie was being treated, that further treatment would "continue to cause Charlie significant harm," without a serious prospect of recovery.
The hospital argued that the baby's life support should be switched off to spare him further pain. The latest round of the case, which began Monday, was set to consider new evidence the family said they had uncovered.
But Armstrong said that the "window of opportunity" for the treatment had now passed, because the child has now suffered "irreversible muscular damage" though he had "waited patiently for treatment," according to The Guardian, in comments that would appear to bring an end to the high-profile, emotional case.
It was "no longer in Charlie's interests" to keep him on a ventilator.
Gard's parents had attracted huge national and international sympathy. They had crowdfunded £1.3 million ($1.7 million) to take 11-month-old Charlie overseas for treatment.
And high profile supporters included President Donald Trump, who tweeted earlier this month: "If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so."
The pope had said in a statement that "he prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end is not neglected."
As a result of the forceful courtroom debates and high level of press attention, both staff at the hospital and the parents have said in statements that they have received abuse as a result of their positions.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Josh is a staff writer covering Europe, including politics, policy, immigration and more.
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
