Dutch Review Finds Due Care in Child’s Assisted Death

A Dutch review committee concluded that a physician acted with due care in the death of a child who was nearly 2 years old, in the first reported case under the country’s framework for termination of life in children under 12. The child died at the end of 2025, and details of the case became public after the committee issued its finding. According to the government report, the child was born prematurely at 26 weeks and had severe brain damage, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The parents requested termination of life after the attending physician concluded that the child’s suffering was unbearable and there was no prospect of improvement. The committee’s conclusion is a review finding, rather than an independent clinical assessment in the material available. The reports describe the physician as having sought medical opinions and obtained the parents’ agreement. One account says initial consultants considered that the child was not in continuous unbearable suffering and that other options remained; it also reports that palliative care and different medication might help control seizures. A second doctor later agreed with the attending physician’s assessment, that account says.