A baby with meningococcemia and septic shock

Sometimes a patient’s life can be saved but the price that must be paid, in terms of the burdens of treatment and the painful sequelae, can be considered too high. In this month’s “Ethics Rounds,” we present such a case from a Dutch ICU. We ask 2 experts, 1 from the United States and 1 from the Netherlands, to comment on the case. Dr Peter J. Smith is a developmental pediatrician at the University of Chicago. Professor A.J. van Vught is the director of the pediatric ICU at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre, Utrecht, Netherlands. Finally, 1 of the doctors involved in the case, Wendela G. Leeuwenburgh-Pronk, discusses the outcome.