and judges do sometimes conclude and are justified in concluding that slim chances of life are not always better than dying. Providing comfort, avoiding painful and unhelpful medical treatments, supporting the child and family for their remaining time. Sometimes that is the best that we can do, and the only ethical course." Justice Resources Gillon, in the Moral Maze programme accepted the proposition that there could have been a resources argument against the use of the proposed experimental treatment but said that this was not a relevant issue in Charlie's case because the parents had raised sufficient funds to pay for the treatment. This was accepted by Wilkinson in the same programme. But Robert D. Truog, director, Harvard Center for Bioethics, Frances Glessner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine, Professor of Anaesthesia (Pediatrics) argued that the notion that Charlie's parents are paying is misleading. Tertiary care medical centres able to do research and provide care depend on communal investment made by society over decades. Society always has a financial stake in how communal services are used and has a legitimate claim in insisting that these resources be used wisely and for the benefit of all. "No one can demand non-beneficial treatments simply by claiming that they are paying out-of-pocket." It has been argued that the case had a negative impact on distributive justice, as Great Ormond Street Hospital incurred legal costs of £205,000, including VAT (money diverted from medical care to lawyers), and that distributive justice could be harmed further if proposed reforms known as 'Charlie's Law' (which would replace the best interests test with a significant harm test) are enacted. Law The legal proceedings commenced in March, some two months after Charlie's treating doctors formed the view that artificial life support was inimical to his interests, and were concluded four months later. The 'No Delay' principle of the Children Act 1989 was in conflict with the duty of the courts to do justice by all the parties. The parents had a right to contest the matter and to take it through the three appeal stages. When they later claimed to have new evidence GOSH was bound to return the matter to court. The delays were lamented repeatedly throughout the case. Lady Hale in the Supreme Court "By granting a stay, even of short duration, we would in some sense be complicit in directing a course of action which is contrary