What happens when parents don’t agree with the treatment for their child?
Their decision-making role is sometimes questioned when they don’t agree with the recommended treatment for their child. There are many ways in which parents may do this. They might, for example, decline diagnostic testing they perceive as unnecessary.
What should doctors do when parents refuse treatment for their child?
Doctors should balance the child’s well-being and the parents’ autonomy by accepting choices that may be sub-optimal for the child, as long as they are not harmful. Parents refusing treatment for their child is one type of situation for which doctors seek clinical ethics advice in paediatric hospitals.
Is it ethical for doctors to accept the treatment parents want?
This is a tool that holds it is ethical for doctors to accept a treatment option parents want, providing it is good enough, rather than insisting on the best possible treatment. What’s in the best interests?
Can a doctor convince a parent to allow a child 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 parents refuse medical treatment for their child?
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. However, parental decision-making should be guided by the best interests of the child.
Why should parents make medical decisions for their child?
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.
Can parents make health decisions for their child?
Parents have the legal responsibility to make medical decisions in the best interests of their minor children who lack decision-making capacity, but they also have the ethical duty to develop that capacity.
Do parents have the right to refuse medical treatment for their child based on religious beliefs?
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.
When parents disagree with each other on medical treatment?
So a problem arises if your ex isn't complying or is constantly disagreeing with your medical decisions. If this is the case, you can seek relief from the court under the grounds that you and your co-parent are not capable of making joint decisions, and you cannot both exercise legal custody of your child.
What is the doctrine of parens patriae?
The doctrine of parens patriae is a doctrine under which a state has third-party standing to bring a lawsuit on behalf of a citizen when the suit implicates a state's quasi-sovereign interests for the well-being of its citizens.
How can parents improve a child's ability to make decisions?
Tips to Help Children Develop Good Decision–Making SkillsExpose Children to the 'Real World'. ... Allow Children to Make Mistakes. ... Know Your Child's Interests. ... Teach Your Children to Know Themselves. ... Stay Involved With Your Kids. ... Talk to Your Child. ... Pile on Praises. ... Teach Your Child to Handle Money Properly.More items...•
Should parents influence the decisions you make?
Authoritative parenting helps kids develop self-control—making them less likely to have problems with drugs, alcohol, or teen pregnancy. Teenagers with authoritative parents do better in school, have greater self-confidence, and have more friends.
When can parental authority make medical decisions for their children challenged?
FC Section 6929 – States that a minor, twelve (12) or older can consent to medical care and counseling relating to the diagnosis and treatment of a drug or alcohol related problem.
What would you do if a parent refuses drugs for their child for religious or moral reasons?
If the patient is a child who lacks capacity to make a decision, and both parents16 refuse treatment on the grounds of their religious or moral beliefs, you must discuss their concerns and look for treatment options that will accommodate their beliefs.
What religions refuse treatment?
Today, many religious groups routinely reject some or all mainstream health care on theological grounds, including Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Amish and Scientologists.
Does religious restrict the treatments?
The court held that the First Amendment protects religious belief, but the state may impose restrictions on practice. Thus, a religious practice jeopardizing the health, safety, or welfare of the person can be limited (see Rozovsky, p. 338).
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 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.
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 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 ...
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 ...
What happens if a parent refuses care?
A parent who refuses care based on an objection to treatment, whatever the basis, is just as likely to have the state intervene to make medical decisions as a parent who is not physically able to provide care or not mentally capable of making decisions.
What is the inquiry into parental competence to provide medical care for a child?
The law’s inquiry into parental competence to provide medical care for a child does not stop at assessing their physical and mental ability to do so; it also examines their willingness to make medically appropriate decisions. The decision of a physically and mentally competent parent to pursue a particular path of treatment may, for example, ...
What therapy did the parents use for Leukemia?
Thereafter, his parents discontinued his medications and the leukemia recurred. The parents sought to supplement their child’s chemotherapy with metabolic therapy, including laetrile. Both the parents and the state introduced expert testimony pertaining to the safety and efficacy of laetrile.
What is the end result of a court battle over the provision of medical treatment?
The end result of a court battle over the provision of medical treatment depends on the type of objection—religious or secular, the proposed treatment and the prognosis for survival with and without treatment. Religious objection to standard medical therapy is often legally valid when the treatment is more likely to fail than succeed. Respect for religion has forced courts to recognize that medical decisions are not always scientific—many people rely on faith to heal them. On the other hand, the right to refuse treatment based on religious objection is not absolute. In cases where adherence to religious tenets that prohibit standard, life-saving care, e.g., blood transfusion, would almost certainly lead to a child’s death, the courts have decided that parents cannot make martyrs of children who are too young to have consented to embrace the faith.
What is the legal competence to make medical decisions for children?
It is important to remember that legal competence to make medical decisions for children is not just about physical or mental capacity; it is also about making appropriate, best-interest decisions. Medical neglect statutes examine whether appropriate care was provided, not how it was provided. A parent who refuses care based on an objection ...
What does "neglected child" mean in Illinois?
For example, the Illinois Compiled Statutes define “neglected child” to exclude a child whose “parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare depends upon spiritual means through prayer alone for the treatment or cure of disease or remedial care…” 325 ILCS 5/3 (2006).
What is the purpose of balancing process in medical decisions?
For medical decisions, mental or physical health will always be at stake, so a different balancing process must be employed to ensure that the state carries out its duty to protect its citizens but does not infringe on the rights granted to individuals by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
When a child is dealing with a long illness or serious injury, the parents may need to make multiple treatment decisions
When a child is dealing with a long illness or serious injury, the parents may need to make multiple treatment decisions about the best course of action. In these situations, the parents may not always agree on what is best for the child.
What happens when parents share decision making power?
If parents share decision-making power, then both parents will have to come to an agreement about how the child should be treated.
Why is it important to negotiate a parenting plan?
For that reason, it is important to negotiate a parenting plan that clearly delineates each parent’s responsibilities in case of an injury, illness, or other medical emergency.
Can a parent have custody of a child in Florida?
In Florida, a parent may have legal custody, physical custody, or both types of custody over a child. Parents can also share these types of custody jointly. Physical custody refers to having actual parenting time with the child, whether that means that the child lives with the parent full time, or has schedule visitation periods.
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.
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 ...
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.
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 is the ethical dilemma of parents refusing treatment for their child?
Striking the right balance. Parents refusing treatment for their child is one type of situation for which doctors seek clinical ethics advice in paediatric hospitals. Although clinical ethics support services are widespread and longstanding in the United States and United Kingdom, in Australia they are in their infancy.
What is parental decision making?
Parental decision-making often involves weighing up the interests of different family members. from shutterstock.com. Traditionally, clinicians have thought in terms of the child’s best interests when deciding how to respond when parents disagree with their recommendations.
What is the outer boundary of parental discretion?
The outer boundary of the zone of parental discretion is harm to the child. Parents are not ethically entitled to choose options that may harm the child.
Why do Oshin's parents want him to be palliative?
His doctors believe he should receive treatment aimed at curing his disease, while Oshin’s parents believe the potential benefits of treatment don’t justify side-effects and other negative outcomes for their son, such as the possibility of long-term health issues . They want Oshin to receive only palliative care to ensure his comfort in ...
Why is it important for parents to know their children?
Usually, parents know their children best and this knowledge – alongside the clinical expertise of doctors – is important in understanding how their child may experience a particular medical treatment. Parents also bear the primary burden of the medical decisions made for their children, caring for them in the long term.
Why do parents refuse blood transfusions?
In one case, parents declined artificial feeding for an undernourished child with a disability, preferring the child remained lighter for lifting. And in other instances, parents of children ...
What are the problems with child well being?
First, a child’s well-being is made up of different elements, such as being free from pain, having a long lifespan, having meaningful relationships and being able to play.
What is family centered care?
A. The family is the constant in the child's life and the primary source of strength. Rationale: Family-centered care involves a partnership between the child, family, and health care providers in planning, providing, and evaluating care.
How to teach parents about cystic fibrosis?
The correct answer is: Encourage the parents to place the infant in a crib with a tight-fitting, firm mattress. The nurse is teaching the parents of a newly diagnosed cystic fibrosis client how to administer the pancreatic enzymes. The nurse will advise the parents to administer the enzymes: Select one:
What does a nurse do with adolescents with special needs?
In working with middle to older adolescents with special needs, the nurse teaches the teens when to seek help from a health professional and about the medical insurance process. This nurse is: a. beginning to prepare the teen for transition to adult care. b. promoting improved use of the present healthcare resources.
Decision-Making Power
Emergency Situations
Conflicts Between Parents
Help For Parents