When parents refuse necessary or life-saving care for their child, they could face serious legal consequences as well. States often refer to this as medical neglect and have laws against it. The state may find that the parent is neglecting the child and place them in state custody.
Can a parent refuse life-saving medical treatment for a child?
Although the ability of a parent to consent to potentially life-saving medical therapy for a child is an established canon of family law,1 the outer boundaries of a parent’s right to refuse life-saving medical treatment for a child are ill-defined.
What happens if a child does not consent to life saving treatment?
There is a duty to report children “in need of protection” and therefore the CAS must typically be notified if parents do not consent to life-saving treatment. The CAS investigates and can apply to court with the ultimate result being that the CAS gets to make the medical decision in question.
Can a teenager refuse to discontinue life-saving therapies?
Virtual Mentor. 2012;14 (10):792-796. doi: 10.1001/virtualmentor.2012.14.10.hlaw1-1210. Rare but challenging are those cases in which teenagers, whether for religious or other reasons, refuse or seek to discontinue life-saving therapies.
Can a parent refuse to treat a child for religious reasons?
Religious Beliefs are Not a Defense for Denying Treatment to a Child Adults have the right to refuse their own medical care for religious or personal reasons. However, this legal right to refuse medical care does not extend to their children if it endangers the child’s welfare.
Can parents withhold life saving treatment?
Parents have the responsibility and authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. This includes the right to refuse or discontinue treatments, even those that may be life-sustaining.
Can you refuse life saving treatment?
After a competent patient chooses to forego a life-sustaining treatment or procedure, the healthcare team is faced with only one option: We must support the wishes of the patient that will ultimately result in his or her death. Forcing treatment on a patient without his or her informed consent is illegal.
What if parents disagree on medical treatment?
Legal Options When Parents Disagree on Medical Decisions If there is shared decision-making regarding medical issues and both parents cannot come to an agreement, the court will examine the facts both parties put forth and determine what is in the best interest of the child.
Do you think that parents should decide they don't want medical treatment for their kids?
Parents who refuse medical care for themselves may allow it for their children. Some parents may decline medical care for their children for less serious conditions, but may agree to it in more extreme situations. Caplan also cautions against judging parents too harshly for following their religious beliefs.
What should a doctor do if a patient refuses life saving treatment for religious reasons?
Three physician experts suggest that to discern when to accommodate a patient's refusal of treatment on religious grounds, doctors should embrace medicine's traditional orientation toward preserving and restoring health.
What do you do when a loved one refuses treatment?
How to Handle an Elderly Loved One Who Refuses to See a DoctorBe Honest with Your Loved One. ... Try to Listen Without Judgement. ... Encourage Your Loved One to Consider All Options. ... Avoid Arguing with Your Loved One About the Issue. ... Remember That Your Loved One is Responsible For Their Own Choices.More items...
Can doctors override parents decisions?
That is, because of the existence of an emergency, treatment is legally permissible, and the court does not need to adjudicate the best interest of the child in approving the physician's decision to override a parental refusal for treatment.
Do both parents have to agree on medication?
Solutions for Medication Disputes If one party has sole legal custody, then he or she has the exclusive right to make medical decisions for the children. If you have joint legal custody, then both parents must come to agreement on issues regarding medical decisions.
What is poor co parenting?
Bad-mouthing the other parent in front of your child or in their hearing. Directing negative non-verbal communication at the other parent in front of your child. Exposing your child to conflict between you and their other parent, whether in-person or on the phone.
Can a child refuse life saving treatment?
Treatment refusals: Minors frequently refuse treatment, but where the treatment is life sustaining, the decision may be challenged either on the basis that it is not competent or because, though competent, the law allows the decision to be overruled: Competence: Under 16 year olds are assumed not to be competent.
Why should parents make medical decisions for their children?
Introduction: Parents/legal guardians are medical decision-makers for their minor children. Lack of parental capacity to appreciate the implications of the diagnosis and consequences of refusing recommended treatment may impede pediatric patients from receiving adequate medical care.
What is the religion that refuses medical treatment?
Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists are the two most common religious doctrines that may dictate treatment refusal, limitation, or preference for prayer.
What is the greatest challenge in cases involving minors?
One of the greatest challenges in cases involving minors is whether the patient is capable of making decisions that could result in the end of life. According to Ontario’s Health Care Consent Act, there is no age of capacity to make treatment decisions and everyone is presumed to be capable.
Do children pass the test for capacity?
Young children typically do not pass the test for capacity in complex situations involving end-of-life decisions. If a child’s care providers do not find her to be legally capable of consenting or refusing to consent to chemotherapy, it is her parents who have the legal right to decide.
How did Medical Protection assist?
Additional members of Medical Protection, who were involved in the treatment of the minor patient, also contacted us for assistance.
Outcome
The procedures were eventually successfully performed, and the child was closely monitored to ensure that a recurring infection did not occur. After one week in hospital, the child successfully recovered and was discharged from hospital.
Why did Daniel refuse chemotherapy?
The refusal was based on their religious practice of Nemenhah, a Native American healing practice in which Daniel was a medicine man and which forbade chemotherapy because of a prohibition against doing harm [10]. Daniel was unable to articulate why he opposed the chemotherapy beyond the notion of “do no harm,” and experts placed his reading below ...
Why was Shannon's case unique?
Shannon’s case was unique because the right for a minor to refuse medical care was invoked as a defense against criminal charges after her death, rather than in seeking permission to forgo care during her life [11].
Is parental consent required for mental health?
Some states have statutes that specify types of care for which parental consent is not required, such as treatment for sexually transmitted infections, treatment for substance abuse or mental health, or requests for contraceptives [8].
Do teenagers have the right to make their own medical decisions?
Unlike their adult counterparts, teenager s generally do not have the right to make their own medical decisions, and physicians, families, and sometimes the courts are left to make difficult choices that have implications for religious freedom, parental rights, and a child’s well-being alike. Three stories help illustrate ...
Does every refusal involve religion?
While not every refusal involves religion, many do, whether the belief is on the part of the child, the parent, or both. The freedom to practice religion is strongly undergirded by the First Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from making any law that interferes with it [12].
Can Jehovah's Witnesses refuse blood transfusions?
The right to refuse life-saving therapies on religious grounds is also strongly defined, most notably the refusal of blood transfusions by Jehovah’s Witnesses [3]. Whether the same rights apply to minors (typically defined as younger than 18, though the definition varies by state) is more complex.
Why do parents keep their children from getting medical treatment?
Religion is only one of several reasons that parents may use for keeping their child from undergoing a medical treatment. Safety concerns and personal preferences also come into play.
How many children died from religious neglect in Idaho?
Child advocates, though, have documented 185 child deaths and stillbirths in Idahoan families with religious beliefs against medical care since Idaho enacted a faith-healing exemption in the 1970s.
What states have religious exemptions for negligent homicide?
The laws vary among states, but nine have religious exemptions for negligent homicide, manslaughter, or capital murder: Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Ohio, ...
When a parent's beliefs about medicine become child abuse?
When a Parent’s Beliefs About Medicine Become Child Abuse. Parents have a lot of leeway in deciding what medical care their child receives, but sometimes refusing care for their child tips over into neglect. An Oregon couple who believed in faith hea ling were sentenced to six years in prison earlier this month for criminal charges related to ...
Can a doctor convince a parent to allow alternative medicine?
Caplan says that sometimes doctors can convince parents to allow a conventional medical treatment for their child alongside prayer or alternative medicine. And even if a court overrules the parents’ decisions, he says it’s important to maintain a good relationship with the parents.
Can adults refuse medical care?
In the United States, adults can refuse any medical care, as long as they’re competent to make their own decisions. But it gets complicated when parents deny treatment for their children, especially when religion is involved.
Is religious based medical neglect a form of child abuse?
The number of religious-related medical neglect cases is small compared to other types of child abuse and neglect in the country, but child advocates are still concerned. “Faith-based medical neglect is the only kind of child abuse and neglect that’s actually protected by law in many states,” said Rita Swan, co-founder of ...
What happens if a parent refuses medical care for a minor?
When parents refuse necessary or life-saving care for their child, they could face serious legal consequences as well. States often refer to this as medical neglect and have laws against it.
What are the decisions parents make when their child is sick?
When a child is sick, parents need to decide when to see a physician or agree to a course of treatment. Other medical decisions are preventative, such as whether to vaccinate a healthy child. What seems like an easy decision for one parent is often a difficult decision ...
What happens if a parent is convicted of child abuse?
Parents convicted of these criminal charges may also lose custody of their parental rights.
What is the expected outcome of a child's treatment?
The expected outcome of that treatment is a relatively normal life with a reasonably good quality of life. The child would die without the treatment. The parent is refusing to grant consent for the treatment.
Can a child refuse medical care?
However, this legal right to refuse medical care does not extend to their children if it endangers the child’s welfare. Under the law, children are entitled to protection and appropriate medical treatment despite their parents’ religious views.
Can a parent refuse hospice care?
For example: If a child has a terminal condition and several doctors agree that treatment is no longer beneficial for the child, then the parents have the right to refuse treatment and seek hospice care for their child.
Can a state make medical decisions for a child?
But this isn’t always the case if the decision may endanger a child’s life. Although health care decision-making is one ...