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	The parents of a &rdquo;profoundly neurologically disabled&rdquo; two-year-old boy say they are &ldquo;devastated&rdquo; by a British High Court judge&rsquo;s decision to allow medics to provide only palliative care to the child.</p>
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	They said Mrs Justice Parker&rsquo;s ruling &ldquo;effectively condemns their son to death&rdquo;.</p>
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	NHS hospital bosses with responsibility for the boy&rsquo;s care had asked Mrs Justice Parker to rule that limiting treatment to palliative care would be lawful and in the best interests of the boy.</p>
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	Specialists said the little boy suffered from an incurable, but unidentified, neurological disorder - and that his condition was deteriorating.</p>
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	Nurses said he had stopped smiling and that he grimaced but no longer giggled when tickled.</p>
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	Specialists said &rdquo;further invasive interventions&rdquo; would be distressing and burdensome for the little boy and would have little or no therapeutic benefit.</p>
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	The youngster&rsquo;s parents disagreed with the idea of providing only palliative care and implementing an &rdquo;end-of-life plan&rdquo;.</p>
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	They said all treatment options should continue to be available.</p>
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	Mrs Justice Parker had overseen the case at a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London and made a ruling on Wednesday.</p>
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	She said it was not in the little boy&rsquo;s best interests to &ldquo;artificially prolong&rdquo; his life.</p>
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	The judge said the little boy could not be identified.</p>
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	She said management at Guy&rsquo;s and St Thomas&rsquo; NHS Foundation Trust had asked her to make a ruling.</p>
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	Solicitor Kavi Mayor, who is based at Jung &amp; Co Solicitors and represented the couple, said his clients were &ldquo;devastated&rdquo;.</p>
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	&ldquo;They believe that the declarations made by the court effectively condemn their son to death,&rdquo; said Mr Mayor after the hearing. &ldquo;They believe that their son&rsquo;s life is worth saving.&rdquo;</p>
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	He added: &ldquo;They are particularly concerned that a prognosis has been given by the doctors when no firm diagnosis has been made. &ldquo;They remain of the view that all possible treatment options should remain open to their son and that the NHS trust have, to date, not explored all possible options.&rdquo;</p>
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	<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/uk-court-ruling-condemns-disabled-boy-to-death-family-says-1.2652039">http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/uk-court-ruling-condemns-disabled-boy-to-death-family-says-1.2652039</a></p>
