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

MONTREAL — Quebec’s Court of Appeal says a Montreal hospital can permanently remove a breathing tube from a child who has been in a coma since June.

The decision by the province’s high court agrees with a Quebec Superior Court ruling that permitted the Sainte-Justine hospital to go ahead with the procedure despite the parents’ objections.

The hospital went to court after the parents of the five-year-old boy refused to consent to the procedure unless the hospital was willing to restore the tube should things go wrong.

The Court of Appeal concluded that the lower-court decision respected the rights and best interests of the child and that the parents’ refusal was unjustified.