A Dutch government review committee ruled on September 9 that a physician acted with due care in ending the life of a nearly 2-year-old child with severe disabilities.

The child was the first reported case involving a child ages 1 to 12 reviewed under the Netherlands’ expanded euthanasia framework.

According to the government report, the child had extensive brain damage, cerebral palsy, visual impairment and severe epilepsy, with a developmental age of about six weeks. The child could communicate only minimally and faced serious breathing and swallowing problems.

Two independent doctors agreed that the condition was irreversible but initially concluded that the child was not continuously suffering unbearably and identified alternative treatments that could potentially improve seizure control. A subsequent physician concluded that the suffering was unbearable and could not reasonably be relieved in another way.

According to the report, the child could not participate in the decision, so the physician relied on observations from medical specialists and the parents. The committee ultimately concluded that the physician had acted with due care. The report states that the child had a reduced life expectancy and was considered highly likely to die at a very young age from complications.

Read the report here.