The General Medical Council won its appeal today against a court ruling which enabled terminally-ill patients to force doctors to give them life-saving nutrition where there is a disagreement over treatment.
Leslie Burke, 45, who has a degenerative brain condition, won a ruling last year in the High Court to stop doctors withdrawing food and drink.
But today a panel of three judges headed by Master of the Rolls Lord Phillips set aside the decision of Mr Justice Munby, which was hailed as a landmark for terminally-ill patients at the time.