The move would allow Gard to get treatment here if a British court were to allow it.
Congress voted unanimously earlier this week to grant Charlie Gard permanent residence in the United States. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler proposed the amendment, which also offers permanent residency to Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry tweeted that the move was made “so Charlie can get the medical treatment he needs.”
Despite Congress’ actions, the terminally ill infant cannot be transferred to the United States without the permission of a British court. The court is currently waiting on new medical evidence.
Last week, the judge ruled that an American doctor could examine Charlie. Hirano, a specialist in mitochondrial diseases, flew to London on Monday, where he met Charlie’s doctors and was given permission to examine the infant’s medical records. Yates was also present for the meeting.
Hirano had previously testified in court that the child’s chance of improvement was “at least 10%” under the treatment, and that there’s an “11% to 56% chance of clinically meaningful improvement.”
Charlie’s condition is extremely rare, but the proposed treatment, nucleoside therapy, has seen some success in one other case, prolonging the life of a boy who was only supposed to live for months. He’s now 6 years old and has seen significant improvement. Hirano was instrumental in treating this boy.
Charlie’s parents have been fighting for months to bring their son to the U.S. for Hirano’s experimental treatment, crowdfunding more than 1.3 million pounds to help with costs. However, Charlie’s hospital had gone to court to take the 11 month old off life support, arguing that “he has no quality of life and no real prospect of any quality of life.”
While previous court decisions had gone against the parents, the hospital recently called for a new hearing to examine fresh evidence presented by doctors from “two international hospitals.” The Pope and Donald Trump have also expressed support for Charlie.
Recently, Charlie’s parents cried foul when they discovered that the lawyer appointed to represent Charlie’s guardian has close ties to an assisted suicide advocacy organization.
On July 24 or 25, the court will decide whether Charlie can be transferred.
