re: British parents arrested for seeking out advanced care for dying son

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then the parents are wrong and their actions are possibly detrimental to the child.

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There is really no logical basis for that conclusion in a circumstance where the current course is possibly "detrimental" in its own right. There may well be associated brain damage with the std treatment being forced by the NHS. ( Related Article)

As childhood death or brain damage is certainly "detrimental" --- detrimental to both parents and child --- the state's actions are possibly detrimental. So then "detrimental" becomes a matter of degree. Proton therapy is novel enough to likely make degree of aid or detriment unreliably determinable for the child. There is some data indicating potential for less brain damage associated with proton rather than photon therapy. Damage is of significant concern in Peds brain cancer treatment.

Last year we saw a fairly similar parent vs state argument in the news. Some may remember the case of a Philadelphia girl with terminal CF. She was was end stage d/t pulmonary complications. Government rules forbade adult lung transplant into pediatric patients. The parents pressured, protested, and finally succeeded in gaining a transplant for her. She is still alive, and by all accounts, is improving.