http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20643477

As someone who has had extremely intensive chemo/radiation treatment I can sympathise with both sides. In my case the side effect were horrendous and have left me permanently impaired, what made it worse was the lack of information from the consultants who I felt looked at me purely as a condition and not as a person and certainly did not take in to consideration my quality of life following my treatment.

But this story is not about me this is about a young lad with his whole life ahead of him and of course his mother want him to have the best quality of life as is possible. But he has a very nasty health problem which requires difficult treatment with possible devastating side effects.

I would not like to be in this position, the judge has an almost impossible task as he surely cannot look at this case purely as a legal matter. Predicting side effects is impossible as each patient reacts very differently. (There was a guy with the same cancer had the same treatment as me, three months after treatment he is eating biscuits and drinking tea whereas I will never eat food again). So it is impossible to know how the lad will react to this very poisonous treatment.

Does the treatment take place and hope for the best or accept that there might well be very unpleasant side effects and go ahead with it anyway. Or accept the inevitable result of no treatment?

A very difficult issue indeed.