PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1599837
The 'gray zone' in pediatric end-of-life care: bioethical and medico-legal reflections
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Legal Medicine, Department of Law, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy
- 2Research Unit of Bioethics and Humanities, Department of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma,, Rome, Italy
- 3Department of Clinical Affair, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Palliative care for children with incurable diseases represents one of the most complex challenges in pediatric medicine. It requires a delicate balance between continuing potentially ineffective therapies and ensuring comfort and dignity during the terminal phase. Decisions involve both the family and the medical team, with a particular focus on the "gray zone," where prognostic uncertainty makes it difficult to determine the most ethical course of action. According to the WHO, palliative care aims to improve the quality of life for both the child and their family, addressing not only physical pain but also psychological and social issues. This article explores the bioethical and medico-legal implications surrounding end-of-life care, parental decision-making autonomy, and the need to always prioritize the child's best interests, while respecting their dignity and values.
Keywords: Palliative Care, End-of-life decision, Bioethics, Pediatrics, death
Received: 25 Mar 2025; Accepted: 13 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Scendoni and De Micco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Roberto Scendoni, Institute of Legal Medicine, Department of Law, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.