Overview
- An assessment committee published a report in late September 2026 that revealed a child who was almost 24 months old was euthanised at the end of 2025 under the 2024 law allowing assisted dying for children aged 1 to 12.
- Official medical records show the toddler had extreme prematurity and multiple, treatment‑resistant problems including extensive brain damage, severe cerebral palsy, profound visual impairment, medication‑resistant epilepsy, repeated infections and worsening respiratory and swallowing difficulties.
- The doctor followed required steps by involving the parents and seeking independent second opinions, which disagreed at first about whether suffering was continuously unbearable before a later consultant supported the decision.
- The committee said the life termination was carried out by gradual sedation using coma‑inducing substances and concluded the attending physician had acted with due care and was entitled to find no reasonable alternatives remained.
- The report makes the case public and is likely to shape political debate and oversight because unlawful euthanasia can bring criminal penalties, while also providing the first detailed precedent under the expanded law that will guide doctors, families and regulators.