Judge lifts life support injunction

A judge in Australia has today lifted an injunction which prevented a hospital from switching off a car accident victim’s life support machine, an official said.

Paulo Melo, 29, from Darwin on Australia’s north coast, suffered brain and spinal injuries in a car accident on December 5, the Northern Territory News reported.

His family gained a temporary injunction in the Northern Territory Supreme Court yesterday preventing the Royal Darwin Hospital from switching off his life support system which is keeping him alive.

But today, Justice Dean Mildren decided not to extend the injunction, his associate Natasha Kontzionis said.

The family had until this afternoon, Australian time, to prove that he had a chance to survive, media reported.