CURRENT STATE OF LITERATURE RELATED TO THE EUTHANASIA PRACTICES OF MINORS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbbioethica.2019.03Keywords:
Ethics, Minors’ Euthanasia, End-of-life Decisions Making.Abstract
Euthanasia of minors is a medical procedure regulated and implemented in Belgium and Nederland. As all Euthanasia practices it is a topic very debated, especially in the field of medical ethics. This paper aim is to identify the literature published on this topic and to delineate the main perspectives of these practices. We collected articles published between 1st of January 2014 and 1st July 2018, treating about practices of euthanasia as a protocol for minors. 73 articles were selected from a total of 292 publications. We were looking to identify, in the same time, the context of the ethical debate on the topic and possible solutions or alternative to these practices.
REZUMAT. Stadiul actual al publicațiilor relative la practicile eutanasiei la minori. Eutanasia pentru minori este o procedură medicală reglementată și pusă în aplicare în Belgia și în Olanda. Ca toate practicile eutanasiei este un subiect foarte dezbătut, în special în domeniul eticii medicale. Scopul acestui articol este de a identifica literatura publicată pe acest subiect și de a delimita principalele perspective ale acestor practici. Am colectat articole publicate între 1 ianuarie 2014 și 1 iulie 2018, care tratează practicile eutanasiei ca protocol pentru minori. Au fost selectate 73 de articole dintr-un total de 292 de publicații. Am căutat să identificăm, în același timp, contextul dezbaterii etice pe această temă și soluții posibile sau alternative la aceste practici.
Cuvinte cheie: etică, eutanasia la minori, deciziile finalului de viață
References
Brouwer M, Maeckelberghe E, DE Weerd W, Verhagen E. Quality of Living and Dying: Pediatric Palliative Care and End-of-Life Decisions in the Netherlands. Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2018 Jul; 27(3):376-384.
Hanson SS. Pediatric Euthanasia and Palliative Care Can Work Together. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2016 Jun; 33(5):421-4.
Raus K. The Extension of Belgium's Euthanasia Law to Include Competent Minors. J Bioeth Inq. 2016 Jun; 13(2):305-15.
ten Cate K, van de Vathorst S, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, van der Heide A. End-of-life decisions for children under 1 year of age in the Netherlands decreased frequency of administration of drugs to deliberately hasten death. Med Ethics. 2015 Oct; 41(10): 795-8.
Koper JF, Bos AF, Janvier A, Verhagen AA. Dutch neonatologists have adopted a more interventionist approach to neonatal care. Acta Paediatr. 2015 Sep; 104(9):888-93.
Bovens L. Child euthanasia: should we just not talk about it? J Med Ethics. 2015 Aug; 41(8):630-4.
Eduard Verhagen AA. Neonatal euthanasia: lessons from the Groningen Protocol. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2014 Oct; 19(5):296-9.
Morrison W, Kang T. Judging the quality of mercy: drawing a line between palliation and euthanasia. Pediatrics. 2014 Feb; 133 Suppl 1:S31-6.
De Saint Blanquat L, Cremer R, Elie C, Lesage F, Dupic L, Hubert P; pour le Groupe francophone de réanimation et urgences pédiatriques. (GFRUP). [French law related to patient's rights and end of life: pediatric intensive care unit's health professionals' opinions]. Arch Pediatr. 2014 Jan; 21(1):34-43.
Bolt EE, Flens EQ, Pasman HR, Willems D, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. Physician-assisted dying for children is conceivable for most Dutch paediatricians, irrespective of the patient's age or competence to decide. Acta Paediatr. 2017 Apr; 106(4):668-675.
Kaczor C. Against euthanasia for children: a response to Bovens. J Med Ethics.2016 Jan; 42(1):57-8.
ten Cate K, van de Vathorst S. Dutch pediatricians' views on the use of neuromuscular blockers for dying neonates: a qualitative study. J Perinatol. 2015 Jul; 35(7):497-502.
González-Melado FJ, Di Pietro ML. [The Best Interest of the Child in Neonatology: Is It Best for the Child?]. Cuad Bioet. 2015 May Aug; 26(87):201-22.
Schuklenk U. Physicians can justifiably euthanize certain severely impaired neonates. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015 Feb; 149(2):535-7.
Sade RM. Can a physician ever justifiably euthanize a severely disabled neonate? J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2015 Feb; 149(2):532.
Friedel M. [Palliative care in pediatrics, ethics and relations with the patient]. Soins Pediatr Pueric. 2014 Nov-Dec; (281):42-6.
Voultsos P, Chatzinikolaou F. Involuntary euthanasia of severely ill newborns: is the Groningen Protocol really dangerous? Hippokratia. 2014 Jul-Sep; 18(3):193-203.
Siegel AM, Sisti DA, Caplan AL. Pediatric euthanasia in Belgium: disturbing developments. JAMA. 2014 May 21; 311(19):1963-4.
Dan B, Fonteyne C, de Cléty SC. Self-requested euthanasia for children in Belgium. Lancet. 2014 Feb 22; 383(9918):671-2.
Beca JP, Leiva A. [Could infant euthanasia be ever acceptable?]. Rev Chil Pediatr. 2014 Oct; 85(5):608-12.
Keeling G. The sensitivity argument against child euthanasia. J Med Ethics. 2018 Feb; 44(2):143-144.
Brouwer M, Kaczor C, Battin MP, Maeckelberghe E, Lantos JD, Verhagen E. Should Pediatric Euthanasia be Legalized? Pediatrics. 2018 Feb; 141(2).
Blikshavn T, Husum TL, Magelssen M. Four Reasons Why Assisted Dying Should Not Be Offered for Depression. J Bioeth Inq. 2017 Mar; 14(1):151-157.
Pennaforte T, Moussa A, Janvier A. [Speaking about life and death in neonatology: How can communication with families be optimized?]. Arch Pediatr. 2017 Feb; 24(2):146-154.
Rapoport A, Morrison W. No child is an island: ethical considerations in end-of-life care for children and their families. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care. 2016 Sep; 10(3):196-200.
Liao L, Chan D. Physician-hastened death in young children: Getting to underlying assumptions. Paediatr Child Health. 2016 May; 21(4):181-2.
Carter BS. Why Palliative Care for Children is Preferable to Euthanasia. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2016 Feb; 33(1):5-7.
Clément de Cléty S, Friedel M, Verhagen AA, Lantos JD, Carter BS. Please Do Whatever It Takes to End Our Daughter's Suffering! Pediatrics. 2016 Jan; 137(1).
Leeuwenburgh-Pronk WG, Miller-Smith L, Forman V, Lantos JD, Tibboel D, Buysse C. Are we allowed to discontinue medical treatment in this child? Pediatrics. 2015 Mar; 135(3):545-9.
Willems DL, Verhagen AA, van Wijlick E; Committee End-of-Life Decisions in Severely Ill Newborns of Royal Dutch Medical Association. Infants' best interests in end-of-life care for newborns. Pediatrics. 2014 Oct; 134(4):e1163-8.
Béranger A, Boize P, Viallard ML. [The practices of withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration in the neonatal intensive care unit: a preliminary study]. Arch Pediatr. 2014 Feb; 21(2):170-6.
Kim MJ, Lee JH, Lee HD. Recent Changes in End-of-Life Decisions for Newborns in a Korean Hospital. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2018 Apr; 35(4):574-578.
Mishra S, Mukhopadhyay K, Tiwari S, Bangal R, Yadav BS, Sachdeva A, Kumar V. End-of-Life Care: Consensus Statement by Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Indian Pediatr. 2017 Oct 15; 54(10):851-859.
Suttle ML, Jenkins TL, Tamburro RF. End-of-Life and Bereavement Care in Pediatric Intensive Care Units. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2017 Oct; 64(5):1167-1183.
Janvier A, Farlow B, Verhagen E, Barrington K. End-of-life decisions for fragile neonates: navigating between opinion and evidence-based medicine. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2017 Mar; 102(2):F96-F97.
Lam V, Kain N, Joynt C, van Manen MA. A descriptive report of end-of-life care practices occurring in two neonatal intensive care units. Palliat Med. 2016 Dec; 30(10):971-978.
Thieleman KJ, Wallace C, Cimino AN, Rueda HA. Exhaust All Measures: Ethical Issues in Pediatric End-of-Life Care. J Soc Work End Life Palliat Care. 2016 Jul-Sep; 12(3):289-306.
Grosek S, Orazem M, Kanic M, Vidmar G, Groselj U. Attitudes of Slovene paediatricians to end-of-life care. J Paediatr Child Health. 2016 Mar; 52(3):278-83.
Zaal-Schuller IH, de Vos MA, Ewals FV, van Goudoever JB, Willems DL. End-of-life decision-making for children with severe developmental disabilities: The parental perspective. Res Dev Disabil. 2016 Feb-Mar; 49-50:235-46.
Chan LC, Cheung HM, Poon TC, Ma TP, Lam HS, Ng PC. End-of-life decision-making for newborns: a 12-year experience in Hong Kong. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2016 Jan; 101(1):F37-42.
Rahimzadeh V, Bartlett G, Longo C, Crimi L, Macdonald ME, Jabado N, Ells C. Promoting an ethic of engagement in pediatric palliative care research. BMC Palliat Care. 2015 Oct 16; 14:50.
Sanchez Varela AM, Johnson LM, Kane JR, Kasow KA, Quintana Y, Coan A, Yuan Y, Barfield R, Church C, Hester M, Baker JN. Ethical decision making about end-of-life care issues by pediatric oncologists in economically diverse settings. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2015 May; 37(4):257-63.
Xafis V, Wilkinson D, Sullivan J. What information do parents need when facing end-of-life decisions for their child? A meta-synthesis of parental feedback. BMC Palliat Care. 2015 Apr 30; 14:19.
Fowler A, Freiberger D, Moonan M. Palliative and end-of-life care in pediatric solid organ transplantation. Pediatr Transplant. 2015 Feb; 19(1):11-7.
de Vos MA, Bos AP, Plötz FB, van Heerde M, de Graaff BM, Tates K, Truog RD,Willems DL. Talking with parents about end-of-life decisions for their children. Pediatrics. 2015 Feb; 135(2):e465-76.
Bateman LB, Clair JM. Physician Religion and End-of-Life Pediatric Care: A Qualitative Examination of Physicians' Perspectives. Narrat Inq Bioeth. 2015 Winter; 5(3):251-69.
Weber M. [Decisions at the end of life of children and adolescents pose particular legal problems. Our expert illuminates the legal status. Judges can deny custody in certain cases]. Pflege Z. 2014 Nov; 67(11):686-8.
Lefeubvre C, Viallard ML, Schell M. [Pediatric palliative care: a national survey of French pediatric residents' knowledge, education, and clinical experience]. Arch Pediatr. 2014 Aug; 21(8):834-44.
Rydvall A, Juth N, Sandlund M, Domellöf M, Lynøe N. To treat or not to treat a newborn child with severe brain damage? A cross-sectional study of physicians' and the general population's perceptions of intentions. Med Health Care Philos. 2014 Feb; 17(1):81-8.
Jones BL, Contro N, Koch KD. The duty of the physician to care for the family in pediatric palliative care: context, communication, and caring. Pediatrics. 2014 Feb; 133 Suppl 1:S8-15.
Janvier A, Barrington K, Farlow B. Communication with parents concerning withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining interventions in neonatology. Semin Perinatol. 2014 Feb; 38(1):38-46.
Dupont-Thibodeau A, Barrington KJ, Farlow B, Janvier A. End-of-life decisions for extremely low-gestational-age infants: why simple rules for complicated decisions should be avoided. Semin Perinatol. 2014 Feb; 38(1):31-7.
Rost, M., Acheson, E., Kühne, T. et al. Palliative care in Swiss pediatric oncology settings: a retrospective analysis of medical records. Support Care Cancer (2018) 26: 2707.
Santoro JD, Bennett M. Ethics of End of Life Decisions in Pediatrics: A Narrative Review of the Roles of Caregivers, Shared Decision-Making, and Patient Centered Values. Behav Sci (Basel). 2018 Apr 26; 8(5).
Kirsch R, Munson D. Ethical and end of life considerations for neonates requiring ECMO support. Semin Perinatol. 2018 Mar; 42(2):129-137.
Hoell JI, Warfsmann J, Gagnon G, Trocan L, Balzer S, Oommen PT, Borkhardt A, Janßen G, Kuhlen M. Palliative care for children with a yet undiagnosed syndrome. Eur J Pediatr. 2017 Oct; 176(10):1319-1327.
Silberberg AA, Gallo JE. Ethical dilemmas associated with clinicians' decisions about treatment in critically ill infants born in Córdoba, Argentina. J Child Health Care. 2017 Mar; 21(1):121-126.
Sweeney CD. A DAISY Nurse: Moral Distress and End-of-Life Decisions in the Pediatric Setting. J Nurs Adm. 2017 Feb; 47(2):82-84.
Delany C, Xafis V, Gillam L, Hughson JA, Hynson J, Wilkinson D. A good resource for parents, but will clinicians use it?: Evaluation of a resource for paediatric end-of-life decision making. BMC Palliat Care. 2017 Jan 25; 16(1):12.
Downing J, Kiman R, Boucher S, Nkosi B, Steel B, Marston C, Lascar E, Marston J. Children's palliative care now! Highlights from the second ICPCN conference on children's palliative care, 18-21 May 2016, Buenos Aires, Argentina. E cancer medical science. 2016 Aug 23; 10:667.
Xafis V, Watkins A, Wilkinson D. Death talk: Basic linguistic rules and communication in perinatal and paediatric end-of-life discussions. Patient Educ Couns. 2016 Apr; 99(4):555-561.
Carter BS. End of life decisions for newborns: an ethical and compassionate process? Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2016 Mar; 101(2):F92-3.
Hellmann J, Knighton R, Lee SK, Shah PS; Canadian Neonatal Network End of Life Study Group. Neonatal deaths: prospective exploration of the causes and process of end-of-life decisions. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2016 Mar; 101(2):F102-7.
Hendricks-Ferguson VL, Kane JR, Pradhan KR, Shih CS, Gauvain KM, Baker JN, Haase JE. Evaluation of Physician and Nurse Dyad Training Procedures to Deliver a Palliative and End-of-Life Communication Intervention to Parents of Children with a Brain Tumor. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs. 2015 Sep-Oct; 32(5):337-47.
Dan B. End-of-life management in children. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2015 Aug; 57(8):688.
Kadivar M, Mosayebi Z, Asghari F, Zarrini P. Ethical challenges in the neonatal intensive care units: perceptions of physicians and nurses; an Iranian experience. J Med Ethics Hist Med. 2015 Feb 4; 8:1. eCollection 2015.
Isaacs D. Ethics of paediatric end-of-life decision making and consent for publication. J Med Ethics. 2015 Feb; 41(2):201-2.
Sellers DE, Dawson R, Cohen-Bearak A, Solomond MZ, Truog RD. Measuring the quality of dying and death in the pediatric intensive care setting: the clinician PICU-QODD. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2015 Jan; 49(1):66-78.
Morales VG. [Limitation of the therapeutic effort in pediatric intensive care]. Rev Chil Pediatr. 2015 Jan-Feb; 86(1):56-60.
Valdez-Martinez E, Noyes J, Bedolla M. When to stop? Decision making when children's cancer treatment is no longer curative: a mixed-method systematic review. BMC Pediatr. 2014 May 13; 14:124.
Jankowski JB. Professional boundary issues in pediatric palliative care. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2014 Mar; 31(2):161-5.
Kiman R, Doumic L. Perinatal palliative care: a developing specialty. Int J Palliat Nurs. 2014 Mar; 20(3):143-8.
Ringholz F, Devins M, McNally P. Managing end stage lung disease in children. Paediatr Respir Rev. 2014 Mar; 15(1):75-80.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Bioethica
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
