THE right to life for handicapped children is to be tested in the High Court again in a battle over why doctors allegedly tried to end the life of an 11-year-old girl.

The case, due to be heard next month, involves a judicial review of a decision by doctors at the Royal London hospital who said Ayesha Begum should not be resuscitated.

It follows the decision to allow Charlotte Wyatt, a handicapped 11-month-old baby, to die despite her parents’ wishes. Another legal battle is looming over Luke Winston-Jones, aged nine months, who was born with a genetic disorder. Doctors want to ignore the wishes of his mother and let him die.

Charlotte was born in Portsmouth after only 26 weeks in the womb and has severely under-developed lungs. Last week a High Court judge ruled that she should not be resuscitated the next time she suffers respiratory failure. Her parents have resigned themselves to waiting for her inevitable death.

Luke was born with Edward’s syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality that causes mental retardation and other physical defects — in his case, multiple heart abnormalities. Last week doctors from Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool applied to the High Court for permission not to resuscitate him when he next collapses.

Luke’s mother is battling for him to be kept alive and the case is to be heard in the High Court in London on Thursday and Friday.

Ayesha’s case is expected to raise many more questions than the other disputes. She is mentally handicapped, epileptic, asthmatic and has speech problems. But despite her difficulties she was living with her parents and attending school. It was only when she developed severe pneumonia two years ago that doctors raised questions over the value and quality of her life.

Ayesha’s family claim that when she became seriously ill, doctors inserted a “do not resuscitate” instruction on her notes without their consent. They claim that more effort would have been made to treat her had she not been handicapped.

Her mother Sufia Begum, a Bangladeshi who speaks little English, was later told that it was pointless to make her suffer. The family say they then had a row with the doctors.

Gousul Islam, the girl’s uncle, said: “My sister was pleading for them to do anything they could to keep Ayesha alive. They told us she would not recover. We ended up getting her transferred to Guy’s and she left hospital two weeks later.” She is still alive.

A spokesman for the Royal London hospital said this weekend that they could not comment ahead of the judicial review.

Richard Stein, the solicitor acting for the Begum family, said: “What these cases are highlighting is the serious problem over doctors taking parents with them in the decision- making process. We are risking a serious loss of confidence in the ability of paediatricians.”

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