Here is the Guardian newspaper's account of the judge's ruling the UK's hiv baby
case.  NO acknowldegement of the September Lancet / Coutsadis paper and it's
conclusions.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Network, UK
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Parents lose fight over HIV test for baby daughter
Parents lose HIV test fight
Rory Carroll
Saturday September 4, 1999
The Guardian
The high court yesterday ordered that the baby of an HIV-positive woman must be
tested for the virus against the wishes of the parents.
The landmark ruling overrides their preference for alternative medicine and sets
a precedent which could allow local authorities to intervene in other treatments
for children. This has alarmed civil liberty groups.
Mr Justice Wilson said the four-month-old girl's 20-25% chance of being infected
made the case for blood testing overwhelming. The parents, who cannot be named,
disputed the link between HIV and Aids and feared they would lose control over
the child if they lost the case.
"This baby has rights of her own," said the judge. "This is not about the rights
of the parents, and if, as the father has suggested, he regards the rights of a
tiny baby to be subsumed within the rights of the parents, he is wrong."
Alison Burt, a solicitor representing the 32-year-old mother, said the four-day
hearing and outcome had upset both parents. They were too stressed to attend
court for the ruling. They will consider an appeal, said Ms Burt.
The judge said he would not order the mother to stop breast-feeding despite the
risk of it infecting her daughter. "My belief is that the law cannot come
between the baby and the breast."
Camden council in north London applied for a court order to test the child after
the mother notified a doctor about her infection during a check-up.
The parents opposed the application on the grounds that HIV was best treated
through complementary therapies, healthy eating and keeping fit.
The parents, who met in 1997, shared a dissent from mainstream medicine. The
father, 36, is an alternative healthcare practitioner who has tested negative
for HIV. They called expert witnesses to support their theories and questioned
two opposition experts.
But the weight of rational argument crushed the mother's case, said the judge.
"She and the father, who loves her, cling to their theories with the intensity
of the shipwrecked mariner who clings to the plank of wood."
They would respond better to the judgment "if they realise that it has
intellectual integrity and makes no idle threats", he said.
If found to be HIV-positive, the child could be treated with a combination of
potentially life-saving drugs. If negative, the cessation of breast feeding
could prevent infection.
The council's experts persuaded the judge that there was a chance the baby was
already infected. There was a 20% chance that a baby infected with HIV would
develop a serious Aids-related illness within its first year.
If the "adorable" girl he saw cradled by her mother during the hearing was
infected, she stood a 4% chance of dying from a strain of pneumonia, known as
PCP, if not treated. The odds were chilling, said the judge.
If the baby was infected the breast feeding should probably continue, he said.
If she was not, it should cease.
The judge, social workers and the parents will meet in the next few days to
discuss the blood test.
Simon White, Camden's director of social services, said the council had a legal
duty to bring the case to court. "We felt that the issues needed detailed
consideration by a judge who was independent and could examine the facts of the
case dispassionately."
The National Aids Trust said it was regrettable that the case had to come to
court. "We believe that children have the right to receive the best HIV care
available."
The Terrence Higgins Trust, an Aids charity, welcomed the ruling and hoped that
the mother would voluntarily cease breast feeding. "It is seldom in the best
interests of a child to remove it from the care of a loving family and into
statutory care. We hope that this situation can be resolved without the need for
further proceedings."
The UK Coalition, a self-help group for people living with HIV, urged pregnant
women to come forward voluntarily for testing.
However the International Forum for Accessible Science, a Swiss-based charity,
said the ruling undermined parental rights. "Such interventions seldom empower
the women but take away her right to make an informed choice for herself and her
baby."
© Copyright Guardian Media Group plc. 1999

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