A judge who has given permission to the HSE to administer drugs to a baby at risk of HIV against the wishes of the 
mother said it was not a question of the State “acting as a superpower” or “nanny knows best.”
The case shows once again that the law as it stands already allows the State to override the wishes of parents in certain circumstances.
High Court judge, George Birmingham, gave his ruling in a case involving a woman who is HIV positive. The HSE fears the disease will be passed on to her unborn child unless they administer an antiretroviral medication from birth until the child is four weeks old.
However, the mother expressed serious reservations about the drug. She had read on the internet that it could cause side-effects.
The HSE rejected this and the case was heard by the High Court in a special session as the woman was close to giving birth and the HSE did not want to waste any time administering the drug.
Justice Birmingham ruled in favour of the HSE and said the mother was placing her child at “unnecessary risk”.
There have been other cases in recent years of the State allowing doctors to override the wishes of parents in medical emergencies. In one ruling the courts allowed doctors to give a child a blood transfusion although giving transfusions is against the beliefs of the child’s Jehovah’s Witnesses’ parents.