As Alfie Evans Dies, Calls Grow for Better Ways to Support Grieving Parents

April 30, 2018

(The Guardian) – A leading expert in medical ethics has called for new mediation panels to prevent the “entrenched disagreements” that surrounded the treatment of Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old boy who died yesterday, almost a week after his life support was withdrawn. Dominic Wilkinson, professor of medical ethics at the University of Oxford and a neonatal consultant, said that independent mediators could help people such as Alfie’s parents, Thomas Evans and Kate James, who repeatedly clashed with doctors over their child’s treatment for a degenerative brain disease, culminating in a protracted high court battle.