Founded on two Court of Appeal decisions in 1992,1 2 it has been conventional wisdom that where a competent or capacitous child makes a medical decision that is likely to pose a serious risk to their health, or entail death, the court can overrule that choice. This principle applies equally (although uncommonly) to vetoing an inappropriate procedure to which the child seeks to consent. Naturally, over the intervening years there have been cases challenging those judgements, largely based on children seeking to refuse food or blood.
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