"Are Their Babies Different from Ours?" Dutch Culture and the Groningen Protocol (Letters‪)‬

To the Editor: We were very pleased at how well Hilde Lindemann and Marian Verkerk addressed the misunderstandings that have distorted perceptions of the Groningen Protocol ("Ending the Life of a Newborn: The Groningen Protocol," January-February 2008). The Groningen Protocol for newborn euthanasia was developed in 2001 in the Netherlands after fifteen years of open discussion among the medical profession and the public, and with the guidance of legal precedents. We personally experienced the limitations of the prior regulations when we treated a newborn whose parents asked for euthanasia to relieve her suffering. In this case, which was described in detail in the New York Times (Gregory Crouch, "A Crusade Born of a Suffering Infant's Cry," March 19, 2005), the newborn suffered from a lethal disease that caused her skin to come off whenever it was touched, leaving extremely painful scar tissue. Pain medication seemed to provide no relief, but the parents' request was denied and the child was sent home. This case prompted us to find a way to improve the regulatory mechanism controlling pediatric end-of-life care.