The US doctor (Dr. I) says that he can't help.
104 Crucially, Dr. I said that, having seen the 30th March EEG, the damage to
Charlie’s brain was more severe than he had thought. He said that he thought
that Charlie was in the terminal stage of his illness. He said that he thought
that the treatment, if administered, was unlikely to be of any benefit to
Charlie’s brain. He described the probability as low, but not zero.
He agreed
that there could be no reversal of the structure of Charlie’s brain.
106 The long and the short of Dr. I’s evidence is that there is no scientific evidence
of any prospect of any improvement in a human with RRM2B strain of MDDS.
While there were some reasons to be hopeful that it might make a modest
difference to life expectancy,
it almost certainly could not undo structural brain
damage.
90 Crucially, she [Professor A] said that, even if there was an ability to cross the blood/brain
barrier, it is not possible to reverse the process for neurones already lost. She
said that seizures in mitochondrial disease are a sign that death is, at most, six
to nine months away. She said that she and Dr. I did not really differ on the
science and both agree that, very sadly, it is extremely unlikely to help Charlie.
She said that, in her view, there was a cultural difference in philosophy
between treatment in the United States and in the United Kingdom. She said
that she tried to have the child at the centre of her actions and thoughts whereas
in the United States, provided there is funding, they will try anything.
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-cont...20170411-1.pdf
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