Maybe not...Charlie Gard: how new brain scans showed he could not be helped
Charlie Gard’s parents were told that their son had irreversible brain damage after he suffered seizures before Christmas, but they did not believe it. They maintained that an MRI scan in January showed the brain was normal. That has been the crux of the difference between parents and the hospital. Connie Yates and Chris Gard, bolstered by the opinions of doctors in other countries who had not seen their child, believed treatment was possible.
Their hopes came to an end at the weekend, after Michio Hirano, the US neurologist who had offered an experimental drug therapy, finally accepted an invitation that had been open since Christmas to come to London and see Charlie. He was expected to explain in court the new evidence that he said suggested nucleoside bypass therapy (NBT) could help Charlie.
Instead, the parents’ lawyer stood up to say they were ending their legal fight. He stated that Charlie’s muscle wastage meant it was too late to treat him. But Hirano, who had not seen Charlie, the scans or the medical notes when he made a first appearance in court on 13 July,
had been shown new imaging of the brain damage that Great Ormond Street hospital (Gosh) had always said was irreversible.
