BVW

In the Victorian Supreme Court on May 29, 2003 Justice Stuart Morris ruled that artificial food and hydration is medical treatment rather than palliative care and therefore can be refused under the Victorian Medical Treatment Act.

This judgement resulted from a request for advice to VESV in July, 2002. BWV, a 68 year old Melbourne woman, suffering from a rare and fatal form of dementia, who was incompetent and totally dependant had been kept alive via a feeding tube for three years in a Melbourne nursing home. BWV's family had requested that the feeding tube be removed so that she could be allowed to die, as had been her previously expressed wish. Her doctor and nursing home had refused this request.

VESV suggested that BWV's husband apply to be made her legal guardian in order to refuse medical treatment under the Victorian Medical Treatment Act. The outcome of this advice was that the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal appointed the Victorian Public Advocate, Julian Gardner, her guardian in February, 2003 with powers and duties to make decisions concerning her medical treatment. The Public Advocate then requested the Supreme Court to declare whether tube feeding constituted medical treatment or palliative under the Medical Treatment Act.

Read more about the Supreme Court decision

Read more about the implications of the Refusal of Tube Feeding