How long does it take for a disabled new-born infant to starve to death? Up to 26 days, according to doctors from Vancouver. At the 18th International Congress on Palliative Care in Montreal, Dr Hal Siden, of Canuck Place Children's Hospice, said "These babies live much, much longer than anybody expects. I think that neonatologists and nurses and palliative care clinicians need to be alerted to this."

He based his findings on five cases in which nutrition and hydration were withdrawn from babies because of severe congenital impairments. To ensure that neither the babies nor their parents suffered, he administered high doses of powerful sedatives. "Parents really wanted to know that medications were being used because they didn't want their child to have the sensation of hunger in any way, shape, or form," said his colleague Kerry Keats.

After feeds and hydration were discontinued, the mean duration of survival was 13.2 days (range, 3 to 26 days), she said. Infants' ages at death ranged from 18 to 67 days.

Although the children did not fuss or cry, the parents found the gradual emaciation of the child as it starved to death quite hard to bear. (Although “starve” is an loaded word, the baby’s death certificate lists “starvation” as the cause of death.) An informal poll by Dr Siden indicated that many paediatric palliative care specialists were familiar with such cases. ~ Medscape, Oct 7