Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
British Judge Supports Dying Girl’s Wish to be Frozen
A British judge has granted the dying wish of a teen girl to be frozen with the goal of being thawed when her cancer can be cured.
Before her recent death, the 14-year-old wrote to High Court Judge Peter Jackson: “I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up,” the Associated Press reported.
She said “being cryopreserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up — even in hundreds of years’ time.”
The girl’s divorced parents had conflicting views. Her mother was in favor while her father initially opposed the idea, but softened his position as his daughter neared death, the AP reported.
The girl — who chose the most basic freezing option at a cost of about $46,000 — asked the court to rule that only her mother could be in charge of her remains so that she could be cryogenically preserved.
The judge ruled in favor of the girl in October but banned media coverage while the girl was alive in order to preserve her privacy. After her death, the girl’s body was taken to a cryopreservation facility in the U.S.
The technique has not yet proven to be effective and is regarded with skepticism by many medical experts, the AP reported.
The judge said his ruling was meant to resolve the disagreement between the girl’s parents and was not an opinion on whether cryogenic preservation can enable someone to come back to life in the future.
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