The parents of a Christian woman who died while fighting the NHS over its decision to end life-sustaining treatment have won an appeal.
Sudiksha Thirumalesh suffered from a rare mitochondrial disorder which doctors treating her at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham said was incurable. They concluded that it was in her best interests to die and that all life-sustaining treatment should be ended.
At the time of her death last September, aged 19, she had been fighting in the courts for permission to go to Canada for experimental treatment.
A court-imposed anonymity order was lifted after her death, allowing her to be named and making it possible for her family to speak openly about their frustrations.
Wednesday's ruling by the Court of Appeal overturns an earlier ruling which had declared that Thirumalesh lacked mental capacity to make decisions about her medical treatment.
Welcoming the outcome of their appeal, Sudiksha's parents, Thirumalesh Chellamal Hemachandran and Revathi Malesh Thirumalesh, said, "We are grateful to the Court of Appeal for an opportunity to challenge the frightening and unfair judgment made against Sudiksha even after her death, and for setting the law straight.
"A patient's right to disagree with her doctors, not to relinquish hope, and still to have her decisions respected, will now be part of Sudiksha's legacy."
The Christian Legal Centre (CLC), which is supporting the family's case, said that the "important" judgment "reaffirms the right of patients to disagree with their doctors without risking being declared mentally incompetent and having their best interests assessed and enforced by the courts".
CLC chief executive Andrea Williams said: "We pray Sudiksha's legacy will mean a more transparent, life promoting attitude in our hospitals, courts and parliament. The decision of the Court of Appeal acknowledges one of the terrible errors that were made in the way Sudiksha was treated by the NHS and courts.
"Rather than renewing, year after year, attempts to legalise assisted suicide, Parliament should urgently review the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure that cases such as Sudiksha's never happen again."
