Child’s breathing tube can be removed despite parents’ protest: Quebec appeal court

MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal has ruled that a Montreal hospital can permanently remove a breathing tube from a child who has been in a coma since he fell into the family pool in June.

In the decision dated Tuesday, the province’s high court affirmed a November Superior Court ruling that permitted the Sainte-Justine hospital to go ahead with the procedure despite the parents’ objections. The boy’s parents appealed the Superior Court ruling.

The three-judge appeal court panel unanimously ruled that the lower-court decision — while “difficult and heartbreaking” — respected the rights and best interests of the child and that the parents’ refusal was unjustified.

“The principle of preserving life at all costs is not absolute when the conditions for maintaining life are unacceptable,” the high court wrote.

Montreal’s Sainte-Justine hospital went to court after the parents of the five-year-old boy refused to consent to the extubation unless the hospital was willing to restore the breathing tube should things go wrong. The parents said they recognize that removing the tube is necessary, but they said they didn’t want the procedure to be fatal.