A High Court judge has heard fresh evidence in the case of Charlie Gard today (10 June).
Great Ormond Street Hospital applied at the end of last week for a fresh court hearing in the case of the terminally-ill baby, following claims of "new evidence relating to potential treatment for his condition" given by healthcare experts abroad.
Mr Justice Francis oversaw the preliminary hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in the presence of Charlie's parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates.
They are seeking permission to remove Charlie - who has the rare condition mitochondrial depletion syndrome - from the care of Great Ormond Street hospital so he can undergo experimental treatment in the US.
Under the present high court ruling, the hospital is forbidden from allowing Charlie to be transferred for nucleoside therapy anywhere. It also calls for Charlie’s artificial ventilation to be withdrawn, and for him to receive palliative care only.
"There is not a person alive who would not want to save Charlie,” the judge said during today’s hearing, reports the BBC.
He did warn however that there must be convincing fresh evidence in order to change the court’s initial ruling.
A lawyer for the family said new and unpublished data recently shared with the hospital suggested treatment could produce a "dramatic clinical improvement" in Charlie's condition. Previously doctors had indicated Charlie had irreversible brain damage.
The lawyers said that using "cutting-edge” genetic science there was a "small chance" of brain recovery.
They questioned whether Mr Justice Francis was the correct person to be assessing the fresh medical evidence, given that in April he had ruled Charlie's life support should be withdrawn.
This morning, Charlie’s mother, Connie Yates, said that the interventions of Pope Francis and US president Donald Trump have been the biggest help in keeping her critically ill son alive.
Yates told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that their interventions had been the “single biggest factor” in ensuring that life-sustaining care was still being administered to her child.
PICTURE: Parents of Charlie Gard, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, deliver a petition with more than 350,000 signatures to Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, supporting their case that the terminally-ill baby should be allowed to travel to receive treatment
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