Charlie Gard granted US citizenship to fly out for new treatment
BABY Charlie Gard has been granted US citizenship so he can travel to the US for experimental treatment.
The decision by US Congress to give the 11-month-old citizenship may oblige Great Ormond Street Hospital to release the sick baby so he can receive nucleoside therapy.
Nebraska representative Jeff Fortenberry said an amendment has been passed "that grants permanent resident status to Charlie Gard and family so Charlie can get the medical treatment he needs".
Charlie, who has a rare genetic disease, is being kept alive on life support at the children's hospital amid an ongoing court battle over his future.
Dr Michio Hirano flies to UK to examine Charlie Gard
An amendment has been passed that grants permanent resident status to Charlie Gard and family so he can get the medical treatment he needs
His parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard want him to receive treatment but his doctors insist it is unlikely to work and say it would be kinder to switch off his life support system.
A US doctor flew to London this week to examine Charlie as part of a last-ditch attempt to persuade a High Court judge the treatment stands a chance of working.
Charlie, who was born on 4 August 2016, has a faulty gene which affects the cells responsible for energy production and respiration, leaving him unable to move or breath without a ventilator.
Dr Michio Hirano, a neuroscientist from Columbia University in New York, is said to have spent over five hours trying to convince doctors.
The specialist told the High Court nucleoside therapy has a 10 per cent chance of improving Charlie's condition, adding his research “clearly indicates” it reduces muscle weakness in patients with a similar genetic disorder.
He said he hoped a high dose of nucleosides, which are found naturally in the body, would enter Charlie’s cells, affect the mitochondria and prove “therapeutic”.
But Katie Gollop QC, representing the hospital, called the doctor’s findings “all very theoretical”.
She said: “You're trying to translate one experiment to another.”