The first national guideline on palliative sedation in The Netherlands has been adopted by the General Board of the Royal Dutch Medical Association. By law, the physician is obliged to take this guideline into consideration. In this paper, we present the main principles of the guideline. Palliative sedation is defined as the intentional lowering of consciousness of a patient in the last phase of his or her life. The aim of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering, and lowering consciousness is a means to achieve this. The indication for palliative sedation is the presence of one or more refractory symptoms that lead to unbearable suffering for the patient. Palliative sedation is given to improve patient comfort. It is the degree of symptom control, not the level to which consciousness is lowered, which determines the dose and the combinations of the sedatives used and duration of treatment. Palliative sedation is normal medical practice and must be clearly distinguished from the termination of life.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pediatric bioethics presumes that decisions should be taken in the child’s best interest. If it’s ambiguous whether a decision is in the child's interest, we defer to parents. Should parents be permitted to consider their own interests in making decisions for their child? In the Netherlands, where neonatal euthanasia is legal, such questions sometimes arise in deciding whether to hasten the death of a critically ill, suffering child. We describe the recommendations of a national Dutch committee. Our objectives were to analyze the role of competing child and family interests and to provide guidance on end-of-life decisions for doctors caring for severely ill newborns. METHODS: We undertook literature review, 7 consensus meetings in a multidisciplinary expert commission, and invited comments on draft report by specialists’ associations. RESULTS: Initial treatment is mandatory for most ill newborns, to clarify the prognosis. Continuation of treatment is conditional on further diagnostic and prognostic data. Muscle relaxants can sometimes be continued after withdrawal of artificial respiration without aiming to shorten the child's life. When gasping causes suffering, or protracted dying is unbearable for the parents, muscle relaxants may be used to end a newborn's life. Whenever muscle relaxants are used, cases should be reported to the national review committee. CONCLUSIONS: New national recommendations in the Netherlands for end-of-life decisions in newborns suggest that treatment should generally be seen as conditional. If treatment fails, it should be abandoned. In those cases, palliative care should be directed at both infant and parental suffering. Sometimes, this may permit interventions that hasten death.

All authors were member of the committee that has developed the Dutch national guideline on palliative sedation. AbstractIn December 2005 the first national guideline for palliative sedation in the Netherlands was published. Th is guideline was developed by a committee of the Royal Dutch Medical Association, at the request of the Dutch government. Th e guideline defines palliative sedation as 'the intentional lowering of consciousness of a patient in the last phase of his or her life'. According to the guideline the objective of palliative sedation is to relieve suffering, and lowering consciousness is a means to achieve this. It is very important that palliative sedation is given for the right indication, proportionally, and adequately. It is the degree of symptom control, not the level to which consciousness is lowered, which determines the dose and combinations of the sedatives used and duration of treatment. Th e assessment and decision-making processes must focus on adequate relief of the patient's suffering, so that a peaceful and acceptable situation is created. Palliative sedation is given in the last phase of life, in the imminently dying patient. Palliative sedation raises several legal questions. In this article we describe the structure and contents of the guideline, with special attention for the main legal issues involved, like the distinction between palliative sedation and euthanasia and the process of informed consent.

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