US doctor who flew to UK to visit Charlie Gard examines new scans as he hopes to reverse tot’s brain damage
AN American expert examined Charlie Gard yesterday to assess the baby’s chances of being saved by experimental drugs and looked at new brain scans.
Dr Michio Hirano, 56, thinks they could reverse brain damage caused by 11-month-old Charlie’s rare genetic condition.
The tot's dad Chris Gard looked anxious yesterday as he made his way to the world famous children's hospital in London for crunch talks between Dr Michio Hirano and UK doctors.
The US professor, who believes he can help ten-month-old Charlie, visited him for the first time today along with a second unnamed doctor and left after five hours.
He was handed an honorary contract, which the hospital said gives him the same status as its own physicians.
This means he can examine Charlie, and has full access to his medical records and the hospital's facilities.
It comes after specialists at Great Ormond Street said that some conditions still cannot be cured or improved.
Chris and Charlie's mum Connie Yates have been fighting for their son to be allowed to undergo the therapy trial, which is headed by Dr Hirano in New York.
Judges have that that baby Charlie has a form of mitochondrial disease, which causes muscle weakness and brain damage.
A statement on Great Ormond Street Hospital website, which spells out the doctors’ thinking, reads: “At the heart of Charlie's parlous and terrible condition is the question, how can it be in his best interests for his life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn?
"Charlie has been treated on GOSH's neonatal intensive care unit for many months now and very sadly, the question that arises for him arises for other patients and families at the hospital too.
"GOSH has treated over a thousand patients with mitochondrial disease and offers pioneering treatment, including nucleoside treatment, where appropriate.
"Despite all the advances in medical science made by GOSH and the other hospitals around the world, there remain some conditions that we cannot cure and we cannot ameliorate."
The statement adds: "It has been and remains the unanimous view of all of those caring for Charlie at Great Ormond Street that withdrawal of ventilation and palliative care are all that the hospital can offer him consistent with his welfare.
"That is because in the view of his treating team and all those from whom GOSH obtained second opinions, he has no quality of life and no real prospect of any quality of life."