Whats your source on that?
The father himself - the quote's in this thread somewhere.
The NHS have now agreedthe little boy is going to be treated (if he meets all the criteria) with proton therapy in Prague. So I really don't see how you can come to the conclusion that they we're told 'this won't help him' in the original instance (why would they now change their stance).
Not my conclusion, that would be silly as I'm not an expert. It was the conclusion of the experts in Southampton.
I heard today that he will need to be stabilised again because of complications (Independant article) before moving again. So there will still be a massive risk, I suspect that the risk is now somewhat diminished seeing as the kid was luckily able to be moved without expertise.
The NHS have shipped over 100 patients to the states for the treatment in the past, so it is much more likely that they didn't offer the treatment to them at all for whatever reason.
In which case, wouldn't that suggest to you that our system is capable of sending those who can benefit and can safely travel? That just goes to back up the fact that if the rewards outstripped the risks it would have happened.
On the risk of moving the patient, yep granted, definitely a risk, but it seems they took many precautions to at least mitigate the risks as best possible.
Have a look at the question posed by braineclipse earlier in the thread. He the NHS tried to move the boy in anything like the conditions the parents did, people would be calling for sackings at least, probably imprisonment if the kid had died.
The best precaution non-qualified people can take is to leave it in the hands of qualified professionals.
The fact they ignored expert opinion is their right as parents. Whether they were right or wrong to do so remains to be seen, but again, I don't think it has anything to do with religion.
It's absolutely not their right.
They do not own their child, he isn't their property. He is a person and entitled to the same treatment as anyone else no matter what his parents think.
As recent cases in Australia and the US have shown, if you refuse medical treatment because you think you know better, the state will hold you liable for the consequences.