A two-year-old child has been euthanised in what is believed to be the first assisted dying case of its kind.
The Sun reported that the Dutch toddler had reached almost 24 months of life with severe brain damage, cerebral palsy and eyesight issues following his premature birth at just 26 weeks.
The toddler also suffered epileptic seizures which could not be controlled with medication and struggled to breathe because of mucus-filled lungs.
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Medical professionals in the Netherlands provided assisted dying treatment for the child following a decision from the Dutch government to scrap age limits on the controversial procedure.
However, that drastic move was only made after independent doctors determined that no amount of medical care could adequately treat the child’s suffering.
The gender of the child is yet to be revealed.
The case was previously reported but information on the child’s age was limited. It was only known that a child under the age of 12 had undergone assisted dying treatment under the Dutch law.
However, the age of the child was revealed as a result of a probe by the Committee for Late-Term Abortion and Termination of Life in Newborns and Children.
A report from that medical committee revealed that an unnamed doctor treating the child sought a second opinion from independent medical professionals after he found that no amount of medical care could alleviate the child’s suffering.
That second opinion stated that “the toddler’s ‘unbearable suffering was clearly visible’.”
The medical board agreed with the first doctor’s decision that as such, the requirements for assisted dying had clearly been met.
“All facets of ‘being human’ – regarding motor skills, behaviour, and personality – were severely impaired and were not going to improve,” the report read.
“Despite all medical and non-medical interventions, the parents and the doctor observed no improvement in the child’s condition and were convinced that the child was suffering unbearably and without prospect of relief.”
The case came two years after the Dutch government scrapped the age limits on assisted dying for terminally ill children in 2026.
Before then, the procedure could only be carried out on either newborns or children over the age of 12.
In all cases, it can only be carried out with comprehensive parental consultation and a widely held determination that the suffering of the patient would be medically deemed “unbearable”.
