Judge orders potentially life-saving medication for girl against mother’s wishes

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In a sworn statement, the mother said she has a strong religious belief and “lives her life by the holy scriptures and the guidance of Jesus Christ”, Judge Conor Dignam noted. She…

A teenager with active epilepsy is to be treated with potentially life-saving anti-seizure medication against her mother’s wishes, the High Court has ruled.

In a sworn statement, the mother said she has a strong religious belief and “lives her life by the holy scriptures and the guidance of Jesus Christ”, Judge Conor Dignam noted. She is her daughter’s full-time carer and has home schooled her for some years.

The woman previously stopped prescribed medication for her daughter due to what she described as “severe” side effects, including her daughter becoming aggressive and angry. Her view is there are alternative methods and treatments available, the court heard.

The girl’s treating doctors and an independent neurologist all agreed she has epilepsy and considered her life at risk if the prescribed medication is not administered.

During a seizure in a public venue earlier this year, the girl was unconscious for 12 minutes, the court heard.

The girl’s court-appointed guardian agreed there is a “warm and affectionate” bond between mother and daughter. However, they believed the mother is “very fixed” in her views and this impeded her daughter’s ability to access services and to socialise. This had, in some respects, led to aspects of the girl’s life remaining unfulfilled and isolated, the guardian said.

The mother’s views included that she herself is “a magician”, the seizures were caused by a “blocked chakra” in her daughter’s heart and cling film could be wrapped around her daughter’s chest to prevent “negative energy” reaching the chakra, the guardian said.

In a judgment published on Thursday, Judge Conor Dignam granted an application by Tusla, the child and family agency, supported by the girl’s father and guardian, for orders for administration of the prescribed medication.

The orders require the mother to store the medication at home and make it accessible to a public-health nurse; to permit the nurse to enter the home, along with two agency staff already dealing with…

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