Dutch court confirms 12-year-old can refuse chemotherapy

BRUSSELS – An appeals judge in the Netherlands has confirmed that a 12-year-old boy does not have to undergo chemotherapy if he does not want it.

Tuesday’s ruling came after the boy’s father appealed to a court to order the treatment. The mother of the boy supported her son in his opposition to the chemotherapy.

Aad van de Beek, a court spokesman in Amsterdam, said the appeals court found that the boy, identified only as David, had carefully considered the situation and had the ability to make a sound decision.

Chemotherapy was part of treatment for David following the successful surgical removal last year of a brain tumour.