Right to life appeal lost
TERMINALLY ill Lancaster man Leslie Burke has lost his final legal appeal to insist that doctors give him food and drink in the final stages of his life.
Mr Burke, who has the incurable brain condition cerebellar ataxia, feels he will be denied sustenance when his illness makes him unable to speak.
But the European Court of Human Rights said it did not believe there was a real threat that his food would be stopped.
The European judges refused to reverse a UK ruling that allows doctors to decide a patient's treatment.
Former postman Mr Burke, 46, said he was extremely disappointed at the decision, which came the day before his younger brother died as a result of the same illness. "My concerns are still that a doctor may decide it's in my best interests to withdraw food and water and let me effectively starve to death," he said.
"I just feel it would be unfair for a doctor to do that even though it will be against my wishes."
Mr Burke, of Mardale Road on Newton Estate, had argued in the UK courts that General Medical Council guidelines giving doctors ultimate say over a patient's life were an infringement of his human rights.
Although he won his first case, the GMC appealed successfully and had the initial ruling overturned – prompting his appeal to the European courts.
Mr Burke's brother Robert, 45, who had the same genetic condition, died from complications arising out of the illness the day after the ruling.
"That has brought it home to me how close it all could be for me," he said.
"Legally I am now at the end of the road. It has been a long fight and it has taken quite a bit out of me. I just want to rest a bit now."
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