title: Please Do Whatever It Takes to End Our Daughter's Suffering!
abstract: What is the best way to care for a child with severe neurologic impairment who seems to be dying and is in intractable pain? Can we give sedation as we remove life support? Is it ethically permissible to hasten death? In the United States, 5 states have legalized assisted suicide (although only for competent adults). In Belgium and the Netherlands, euthanasia is legal for children under some circumstances. We present a case in which parents and doctors face difficult decisions about palliative care. Experts from Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States then discuss how they would respond to such a case.
authors.affiliation: Cliniques universitaires St Luc, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium;
authors.forename: Stéphan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clément de Cléty
authors.affiliation: Haute Ecole Vinci and Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium;
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Friedel
authors.affiliation: Beatrix Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: A A Eduard
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Verhagen
authors.affiliation: Children's Mercy Hospital and University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri jlantos@cmh.edu.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lantos
authors.affiliation: Children's Mercy Hospital and University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri.
authors.forename: Brian S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Carter
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000941:ethics*; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000941:ethics*; D014481:United States