{"id":969000,"date":"2026-11-13T09:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T09:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969000\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T09:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T09:46:09","slug":"judge-orders-potentially-life-saving-medication-for-girl-against-mothers-wishes-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969000\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge orders potentially life-saving medication for girl against mother\u2019s wishes \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A teenager with active epilepsy is to be treated with potentially life-saving anti-seizure medication against her mother\u2019s wishes, the High Court<\/a> has ruled. <\/p>\n

The girl\u2019s mother does not accept she has epilepsy and has attributed her seizures to \u201celectromagnetic\u201d forces, including eclipses of the sun and moon, and a \u201cblocked chakra\u201d, and refused to consent to treatment with anti-seizure and rescue medication.<\/p>\n

In a sworn statement, the mother said she has a strong religious belief and \u201clives her life by the holy scriptures and the guidance of Jesus Christ\u201d, Judge Conor Dignam noted. She is her daughter\u2019s full-time carer and has home schooled her for some years. <\/p>\n

The woman previously stopped prescribed medication for her daughter due to what she described as \u201csevere\u201d side effects, including her daughter becoming aggressive and angry. Her view is there are alternative methods and treatments available, the court heard. <\/p>\n

The girl\u2019s treating doctors and an independent neurologist all agreed she has epilepsy and considered her life at risk if the prescribed medication is not administered. <\/p>\n

During a seizure in a public venue earlier this year, the girl was unconscious for 12 minutes, the court heard.<\/p>\n

The girl\u2019s court-appointed guardian agreed there is a \u201cwarm and affectionate\u201d bond between mother and daughter. However, they believed the mother is \u201cvery fixed\u201d in her views and this impeded her daughter\u2019s ability to access services and to socialise. This had, in some respects, led to aspects of the girl\u2019s life remaining unfulfilled and isolated, the guardian said. <\/p>\n

The mother\u2019s views included that she herself is \u201ca magician\u201d, the seizures were caused by a \u201cblocked chakra\u201d in her daughter\u2019s heart and cling film could be wrapped around her daughter\u2019s chest to prevent \u201cnegative energy\u201d reaching the chakra, the guardian said.<\/p>\n

In a judgment published on Thursday, Judge Conor Dignam granted an application by Tusla<\/a>, the child and family agency, supported by the girl\u2019s father and guardian, for orders for administration of the prescribed medication. <\/p>\n

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 the family welfare; and to permit administration of the medication there. <\/p>\n

Dignam said all parties agreed there is a close and loving relationship between the girl and her mother and that, other than the medication issue, the mother provides proper care for her daughter.<\/p>\n

The doctors and an independent neurologist all agreed the girl has epilepsy and her seizures are epileptic and not caused by electromagnetic forces, he said. <\/p>\n

He found the diagnosis of epilepsy \u201csound and correct\u201d, and ruled that administration of the medications is necessary and will be, or is likely to be, of benefit to the girl and in her best interests. <\/p>\n

The balance here is between \u201ca risk of temporary side effects and risk of serious injury or death\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

On the evidence, he was satisfied the mother\u2019s choice not to permit the administration of medication prejudicially affects the girl\u2019s health and welfare to such an extent that amounted to \u201ca failure of parental duty\u201d to her daughter. <\/p>\n

The mother did not adduce any evidence to support her alternative diagnosis of the causes of the girl\u2019s seizures or any evidence to support her preferred treatment, he said.<\/p>\n

He was satisfied the court\u2019s orders were \u201cproportionate\u201d and they left intact the mother\u2019s other rights and responsibilities regarding her daughter\u2019s care. <\/p>\n

Because the orders involved medical treatment and \u201can ongoing interference\u201d with constitutional rights, the judge made provision for regular reviews of the situation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A teenager with active epilepsy is to be treated with potentially life-saving anti-seizure medication against her mother\u2019s wishes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":969001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49,48,84,3683,377,151692],"class_list":["post-969000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-high-court","tag-medication","tag-tusla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}