In fact, he wants to pay as little attention as possible to the ‘turmoil’ on social media, says a spokesperson for the MUMC+, the Academic Hospital in Maastricht. “We will never talk about an individual case, but that is why we cannot defend ourselves in detail against all allegations. That is quite complicated.”
In this case the ‘case’ is a treated three -year -old girl from the area of Heerlen. She has been in the hospital in Maastricht since February because of a rare genetic condition. Because of that condition, she was largely paralyzed. In the hospital she has been kept alive since March through a ventilation device.
Because there is no prospect of healing and the girl has a lot of pain, the MUMC+ decided to stop treatment. As a result, the child will die. The parents did not accept the judgment and prompted summary proceedings. The judge did not come along.
Freedom of religion
In summary proceedings they appealed to freedom of religion: the parents are Muslims, and from Islam it is “not acceptable to stop treatment, as long as the child’s heart is still correct,” says it in the judgment.
After having requested a second opinion from two other hospitals, the court in Maastricht ruled at the end of June that the MUMC+ had been careful in its assessment. The hospital can therefore stop treatment.
But then the mind was already out of the bottle. After an influencer got involved on social media with the case, the MUMC+ death threats received. The hospital takes it “very seriously,” the spokesperson said, and has “taken internal measures.”
Completely expected
The judge’s ruling is also “completely expected,” says Martin Buijsen, professor of health law at Erasmus University Rotterdam. “The practitioners involved know which therapies are possible. If no more therapy helps, then treating means that you only add suffering.” At that time, medical ethics prescribes that treatment must stop.
How you should come to the conclusion that treatment is meaningless and what you should do then is well recorded in the Netherlands, says Buijsen. Occasionally it happens that the family steps to court in such a case, as happened in Rotterdam in 2022. But Buijsen says he cannot remember one case in which the judge agreed with the claimants. According to him, this indicates that the protocols in the Netherlands are carefully followed.
In practice, however, it often turns out to be difficult to transfer the assessment of the doctors to the family, says the professor. Cultural differences and various beliefs, such as this case in Maastricht, sometimes make that extra difficult. In the Maasstad Hospital in Rotterdam, Buijsen has seen that spiritual caregivers with an Islamic background can bridge the cultural gap. “It helps if there is someone in the hospital who can move in the cultural frameworks of the patient and the family.”
Crowdfund promotion
In the case in Maastricht, the parents have since resigned themselves to the judge’s opinion. The law firm that assists them writes on Tuesday in a statement on Facebook that the parents abandon an appeal. Also, the parents will not claim the proceeds from a crowdfunding campaign, which raised nearly 150,000 euros in a few days to have the three -year -old girl treated in a private clinic in Turkey.
The treatment in Turkey also did not offer a prospect of healing, but would only stretch the life of the girl. “The parents never wanted their child to be in a hopeless situation, but they have to acknowledge with a lot of pain and sorrow that this has now been the case,” said the law firm.
The parents also express their gratitude to the treatment team of the MUMC+”through the statement and they emphasize that there is never any question [is] Been of any hostility between the parents and MUMC+”. According to the lawyers, the parents now” mainly need peace and quiet, to spend the time that remains with their families “.
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