Do not resuscitate orders used against wishes, court to hear The grandmother to seven was otherwise well despite having been diagnosed with terminal cancer only weeks earlier. However just over a week into her care at Addenbrooke's, Mrs Tracey's husband David alleged that a do not resuscitate order was placed on his wife's records without her knowledge or consent. The hospital trust disputes that. When Mrs Tracey found out a DNR order had been placed on her file the family claim she was distressed and she asked for it to be removed, which it was. Then less than a week later, a second DNR order was included in Mrs Tracey's notes, which also included the phrase: "The patient does not want to discuss resuscitation." It continued that three of the four daughters had agreed to it. Both these claims the family disputes. The family maintains that Janet made her wishes clear and that any future discussions should only happen with her husband present. No such discussions took place and the family alleges that they neither consented to it themselves nor had Janet's permission to make that decision on her behalf. During this time Janet wrote a series of notes as her voice became weaker. In them she expressed concern about the care she was being given, writing in uncharacteristic capital letters: " SHE WOULDN'T GIVE ME ANYTHING" and "WHERE HAS MY PAIN RELIEF GONE?" The Court will hear that these distressing notes were written whilst medical notes state she was in a semi comatose state, another claim the family dispute. Janet died on 7 March 2011. The High Court hearing will involve witnesses being called, including the doctors involved, and cross-examined due to major factual discrepancies between the family of Janet Tracey and the staff from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Merry Varney the lawyer from law firm Leigh Day & Co representing the Tracey family said: "This case underlines the importance of a transparent, accessible and consistent policy regarding a patient's right to know when a decision not to resuscitate them is made and to know how their views are taken into account and where necessary, how to challenge a decision they disagree with. The family's claims that Janet was not informed of either decision are supported by notes in her medical records and the very existence of this factual dispute that the Court will determine, supports the need for patients and their families to be fully informed of the decision making process for DNR orders.