Children dying at parents' request

Charlie Butts
OneNewsNow
4/17/2010

A recent study reveals that a few physicians may have facilitated the deaths of terminally ill children at their parents' request.

The study was published in the March edition of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Joanne Wolfe, a palliative pain specialist at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital, interviewed 141 parents of children who died of cancer."They had found out...in that study 19 of the parents had thought about having their child euthanized, 13 had actually talked about it seriously, five spoke to their physician about it, and in three cases, the parents said that the doctor agreed to give their child a lethal overdose and the child died," reports Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).

He notes that the practice is illegal in all 50 states because it is euthanasia, and he says the study really points out the need for better pain management, whether it is for an adult or a child. the rest