Cases in which doctors and the family of a patient in a permanent vegetative or minimally conscious state agree that artificial feeding should be withdrawn need no longer go to court, a High Court judge has declared in a landmark ruling.1 Mr Justice Peter Jackson ruled that a decision to withdraw clinically assisted nutrition and hydration in such cases, taken in accordance with professional guidance, will be lawful and that doctors who withdraw the treatment without going to court will be protected under the provisions of the Mental Capacity Act. The ruling came in the case of a woman with Huntington’s disease, who was dependent on clinically assisted nutrition and hydration since 2003. Neither the …

中文翻译：

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法官裁定，在某些情况下，医生可在未经法院批准的情况下撤回人工喂养

高等法院法官在一项具有里程碑意义的裁决中宣布，不再需要处于永久性植物生长状态或最低意识状态的医生和患者家属同意撤回人工喂养的案件。1彼得·杰克逊法官裁定：在这种情况下，根据专业指导做出的撤回临床辅助营养和补水的决定将是合法的，并且不经法院审理即撤回治疗的医生将受到《心理能力法》规定的保护。该裁定是针对一名患有亨廷顿氏病的妇女，该妇女自2003年以来一直依靠临床辅助的营养和水分补充。