Ashya King case

The Ashya King case concerns a boy with a brain tumour named Ashya King, whose parents, Brett and Naghemeh King, took their son out of Southampton General Hospital in August 2014 over a disagreement with doctors regarding his treatment.[1]

Background

King had a medulloblastoma, which was successfully removed through surgery on July 24, 2014. He underwent a further operation on his brain on August 22.[1]

Disagreement over treatment

King's parents desired their son be treated with proton therapy, which they felt was less harmful than conventional radiotherapy.[2] For this reason, on August 28, 2014, they and Ashya boarded a ferry to France.[2] The National Health Service does not provide proton therapy in the United Kingdom, but after the Ashya King case it decided it will pay for children to travel abroad to receive it.[3] A 2015 report stated that King's parents' decision to deny their child chemotherapy had reduced his chances of survival by 30 percentage points.[4]

In 2016 a study published in The Lancet wrote:

Proton radiotherapy resulted in acceptable toxicity and had similar survival outcomes to those noted with conventional radiotherapy, suggesting that the use of the treatment may be an alternative to photon-based treatments.[5]

Proton and photon appear superficially similar but should not be confused. X rays are a type of photon, and are different from protons.

Manhunt

Beginning on August 28, 2014, an international manhunt for King and his parents took place.[6] On August 30, King and his parents were found in Velez Malaga, Spain. King's parents were arrested and their son was sent to a local hospital for urgent treatment.[7] They were held in prison for more than 24 hours, after which they were released when the request to extradite them to the United Kingdom was withdrawn.[1]

Beginning of therapy

On September 5, 2014, a high court ruled that King could receive proton therapy in Prague.[3] Doctors from Southampton General Hospital reacted to this news by saying that he would not get any additional benefit from this treatment, because most of his brain and spine would still be irradiated.[3] On September 9, King arrived at the Proton Therapy Center in Prague, where he underwent proton beam therapy.[1][6]

Cancer-free announcement

In March 2015, Brett King told The Sun that a brain scan had showed no evidence that Ashya had a brain tumor.[1]

Review of the case

Authorities have since conducted a review of this case and pointed out faults by both the staff and parents.[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Brain tumour boy Ashya King free of cancer, parents say". BBC News. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 O'Brien, A.; Sokol, D. K. (10 September 2014). "Lessons from the Ashya King case". BMJ 349 (sep10 11): g5563–g5563. doi:10.1136/bmj.g5563.
  3. 1 2 3 Boseley, Sarah (5 September 2014). "Ashya King given legal go-ahead for cancer treatment in Prague". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Ashya King's parents hit back at report which claims they 'reduced his survival chances by 30 per cent'". The Telegraph. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Proton beam cancer therapy 'effective with fewer side effects'
  6. 1 2 "Ashya King's father says U.K. boy cancer-free after Prague treatment that led to manhunt". CBC News. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Khomami, Nadia (30 August 2014). "Parents arrested as missing Ashya King found by police in Spain". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ashya King's removal from hospital 'put him at risk', report finds". BBC. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  9. ↑ Cowburn, Ashley (24 September 2015). "Parents of Ashya King put him at risk, report says". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
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