UK - Down's syndrome patient challenges resuscitation order

I found this on BBC, quite intriguing:

A man with Down's syndrome is suing an NHS (National Health Services) trust over a hospital's decision to issue a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order giving his disability as one of the reasons.

The most interesting thing is that the instruction not to attempt resuscitation in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest was issued without his family's knowledge.

Their lawyers now describe the order as "blatant discrimination".

On the other hand, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust says it complied fully with guidance from professional bodies.

The family of the man remained unaware of the DNR decision until he had returned from hospital to his care home.

The DNR form had the following reasons given: "Down's syndrome, unable to swallow, bed bound, learning difficulties".

The man, now aged 51, has dementia and was having a special tube fitted to help him with feeding.

The form says there was no discussion with his family because they were "unavailable", but the family say they visited him in hospital "virtually every day".

The court will eventually decide whether this is a case of discrimination or not, but until then I'm curious to see what you think.

Grrrrr that made me angry to read that Johnny.  That is downright discrimination because he has a disability.  It's disgraceful. 

What guidelines are they following / who wrote them?  I thought DNR's were only for people who chose not to be resuscitated.  How dare the hospital take this decision and how dare they not consult him/his family about it.  Utterly disgraceful.

blue

Usually the DNR forms have to be signed by the patient or his family. Their excuse that the family could not be reached is quite lame to say the least.

That's discrimination, for me there is no further discussion. It seems they just wanted to rid of him.