BRITAIN: A court victory hailed as a landmark for terminally-ill patients' rights to the treatment of their choice was overturned by three appeal judges in London yesterday.
They ruled that Leslie Burke's fears that his final days would be a nightmare of thirst and hunger when doctors cut off his life-support systems were groundless.
The Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, giving the ruling of the Court of Appeal, said if a doctor deliberately switched off artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) against the patient's wishes they "will not merely be in breach of duty but guilty of murder".
Mr Burke (45) launched a High Court challenge last year to the General Medical Council's (GMC) guidelines on withholding or withdrawing life-prolonging treatment, winning significant rulings that some of the advice to doctors was unlawful.
However the doctors' watchdog organisation yesterday won a ruling that reversed those findings in a judgment which stressed that doctors never had the power to withdraw ANH against the wishes of a patient.
Prof Sir Graeme Catto, president of the GMC, said after the ruling yesterday: "Patients should be reassured by this judgment which emphasises the partnership needed to resolve end-of-life issues."
Paul Conrathe, the solicitor representing Mr Burke, of Newton Estate, Lancaster, said his client was concerned that he would be denied food and drink before he died of natural causes.
"The Court of Appeal have confirmed that patients like Mr Burke who want food and water have to be given it."
However, he said they were considering taking the case to the House of Lords over the appeal judges' finding that a patient cannot demand that a doctor provide treatment which he or she considers to be against a patient's interests.
Mr Burke, who suffers from cerebellar ataxia, said: "Obviously I am disappointed that I have not got all that I wished for. I have every wish to take it to the House of Lords even though for me personally I should be okay."
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which was represented at the hearing, said the ruling underlined a competent patient's right to self-determination. "However, the DRC is very concerned that the Court of Appeal failed to take the opportunity to provide equal protection for patients that lack capacity."
A spokesman said as the law now stands Mr Burke's lawyers would be forced back to court to request ANH if he loses capacity.
Joyce Robins, co-director of human rights campaign group Patient Concern, said: "Doctors again have extraordinary power over us, making decisions on how and when we die."