The authority to consent or refuse treatment for a minor remained with a parent or guardian. This parental authority was derived from the constitutional right to privacy regarding family matters, common law rule, and a general presumption that parents or guardians will act in the best interest of their incompetent child.
Who has the authority to refuse medical treatment for a minor?
minor’s rights to refuse medical treatment possesses the requisite level of maturity. Many courts, without further elaboration, simply announce that minors are mature if they can understand the nature of their decisions. But how do minors demonstrate that …
What are the rights of minors in making medical decisions?
The right of a competent adult patient to give his informed consent before medical treatment can be started, is a patients' right that is recognised all over the world. The logical corollary of the right to informed consent is the right to informed refusal. A competent adult patient also has the right to refuse medical treatment by simply withholding or withdrawing his consent.
Can a parent refuse to treat a child?
In the past, minors were not considered legally capable of making medical decisions and were viewed as incompetent because of their age. The authority to consent or refuse treatment for a minor remained with a parent or guardian. This parental authority was derived from the constitutional right to privacy regarding family matters, common law rule, and a general …
What are the rights of a patient to refuse treatment?
Feb 15, 2022 · Children. A parent or guardian may not refuse life-sustaining treatment or deny medical care for a child—not even if their religious beliefs discourage specific medical treatments. That means parents cannot invoke their right to religious freedom …
Does an adolescent have the right to refuse treatment?
A mature minor is an adolescent younger than the age of majority. Such a minor can consent or refuse to consent to medical treatment if it is established that the minor is sufficiently mature to understand, discern and appreciate the benefits and risks of the proposed medical treatment.Sep 8, 2017
What are the situations in which a minor is able to refuse treatment and transport for him or herself?
In many states, a minor is allowed to refuse treatment when the parent or guardian is not immediately present. But, the child must have the maturity and intelligence to make an informed choice.Mar 31, 1999
What is the right to refuse treatment?
Every competent adult has the right to refuse unwanted medical treatment. This is part of the right of every individual to choose what will be done to their own body, and it applies even when refusing treatment means that the person may die.
Can 16 and 17 year olds refuse medical treatment?
People aged 16 or over are entitled to consent to their own treatment. This can only be overruled in exceptional circumstances. Like adults, young people (aged 16 or 17) are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there's significant evidence to suggest otherwise.
What are a few examples of when a patient can refuse treatment?
1 Accordingly, the patient may refuse to be informed about their medical condition and make a decision. An example would be the statement, “I don't want to hear anything from you. I'm not going to the hospital.” They may be informed and then refuse to make a decision. “Wow, that sounds bad either way.Mar 25, 2015
Should parents be allowed to refuse medical treatment for their child?
State intervention on a medical decision for a minor may go further than just health care. 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.Jan 29, 2021
Is refusing medical treatment illegal?
In most cases yes. You must give your consent (permission) before you receive any type of medical treatment, from a simple blood test to deciding to donate your organs after your death.
Can I be forced to have medical treatment?
You cannot legally be treated without your consent as a voluntary patient – you have the right to refuse treatment. This includes refusing medication that might be prescribed to you. (An exception to this is if you lack capacity to consent to treatment.)
What are the rights of a patient who refuses treatment?
In addition, there are some patients who do not have the legal ability to say no to treatment. Most of these patients cannot refuse medical treatment, even if it is a non-life-threatening illness or injury: 1 Altered mental status: Patients may not have the right to refuse treatment if they have an altered mental status due to alcohol and drugs, brain injury, or psychiatric illness. 6 2 Children: A parent or guardian cannot refuse life-sustaining treatment or deny medical care from a child. This includes those with religious beliefs that discourage certain medical treatments. Parents cannot invoke their right to religious freedom to refuse treatment for a child. 7 3 A threat to the community: A patient's refusal of medical treatment cannot pose a threat to the community. Communicable diseases, for instance, would require treatment or isolation to prevent the spread to the general public. A mentally ill patient who poses a physical threat to himself or others is another example.
What is a threat to the community?
A threat to the community: A patient's refusal of medical treatment cannot pose a threat to the community. Communicable diseases, for instance, would require treatment or isolation to prevent the spread to the general public. A mentally ill patient who poses a physical threat to himself or others is another example.
How can a patient's wishes be honored?
Another way for a patient's wishes to be honored is for the patient to have a medical power of attorney. This designates a person to make decisions on behalf of the patient in the event they are mentally incompetent or incapable of making the decision for themselves.
Can informed consent be bypassed?
In instances of an emergency situation, informed consent may be bypassed if immediate treatment is necessary for the patient's life or safety. 5 . In addition, there are some patients who do not have the legal ability to say no to treatment. Most of these patients cannot refuse medical treatment, even if it is a non-life-threatening illness ...
What is the meaning of refusing treatment at the end of life?
Choosing to refuse treatment at the end of life addresses life-extending or life-saving treatment. The 1991 passage of the federal Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) guaranteed that Americans could choose to refuse life-sustaining treatment at the end of life. 9
Can a parent refuse treatment?
Children: A parent or guardian cannot refuse life-sustaining treatment or deny medical care from a child. This includes those with religious beliefs that discourage certain medical treatments. Parents cannot invoke their right to religious freedom to refuse treatment for a child. 7 . A threat to the community: A patient's refusal ...
Who is Shereen Lehman?
Shereen Lehman, MS, is a healthcare journalist and fact checker. She has co-authored two books for the popular Dummies Series (as Shereen Jegtvig). Patients often face decisions on whether or not to put themselves through medical treatment. A recommended treatment might only provide comfort or it may speed healing.
What is the principle of parental autonomy?
Society of Sisters firmly established the parental autonomy doctrine—the principle that parents have a constitutional right to raise their children without unreasonable governmental interference. [xvii] This fundamental right was further galvanized in Prince v. Massachusetts, where the Court articulated “that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder.” [xviii] Common law has since legitimized a wide-spectrum of parental rights, such as the right to make decisions surrounding the education of a child [xix] and the right to direct the moral and religious training of a child. [xx]
When did Oregon pass the Death with Dignity Act?
In the wake of Glucksberg, Oregon passed the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) of 1994 , which allows a competent, terminally ill patient to end their life through the voluntary self-administration of legal medications.
Can a terminally ill minor refuse LSMT?
Recent judicial rulings, [i] legislative developments, [ii] and public policy polls [iii] suggest that the United States is prepared to hold a serious conversation surrounding a patient’s right to refuse LSMT. State legislatures have made significant progress in the Death with Dignity movement; however, minimal progress, if any, has been made on whether competent, terminally ill minors should also have the right to refuse LSMT.
What is mature minor doctrine?
Despite its novelty, the mature minor doctrine is a prevailing pattern found in many state jurisdictions. [lix] In considering a minor’s capacity to make autonomy medical decisions, courts consider a constellation of cognitive and social factors.
Can a minor refuse LSMT?
Prior to 1986, no court examined the question of whether a minor has the right to refuse LSMT. In the case of In re D.P., the California Superior Court of Santa Clara County held that a 14-year-old cancer patient could not be held in a hospital against her will, and thus was not required to receive blood transfusions. [xxviii] The following year, in Cardwell v. Bechtol, the Tennessee Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether a minor can consent to medical treatment. [xxix] In Cardwell, a minor and her parents brought suit against an osteopath for medical malpractice on the grounds that the osteopath failed to obtain informed consent for a medical procedure. [xxx] The Court in Cardwell “recognize [d] the varying degrees of responsibility and maturity of minors” [xxxi] and ruled that if a minor has the capacity to consent to and appreciate the nature, risk, and consequences of medical treatment, that the minor functions as an adult when making decisions on medical treatment. [xxxii] The Court, however, warned that the “ [a]doption of the mature minor exception to the common law rule [was] by no means a general license to treat minors without parental consent and [the exception’s] application [was] dependent on the facts of each case.” [xxxiii]
Can minors consent to medical treatment?
Minors are generally presumed legally incompetent, and thus lack the authority to consent to medical treatment. [xliv] Under U.S. common law, parents enjoy a substantive constitutional right to make health care decisions on behalf of their children. [xlv] This is particularly true in the realm of end-of-life care. [xlvi] The notion that minors lack the capacity to make independent decisions concerning medical treatment rests on the presumption that minors lack the maturity and wisdom to make such decisions. [xlvii] In Prince v. Massachusetts, the Supreme Court articulated that “ [p]arents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion when they can make that choice for themselves.” [xlviii] This parental right, however, is generally assumes that parents will act in the best interest of the minor. [xlix]
Can a minor be emancipated?
[lxx] For instance, in medical emergencies, physicians may undertake medical treatment on minors without parental consent. Additionally, emancipated minors may also consent to medical treatment without parental consent. While jurisdictions vary in their definition of emancipation, a widely accepted definition of an emancipated minor is “one whose parents have completely surrendered care, custody, and control of the child, have no involvement in the child’s earnings, and have renounced parental duties.” [lxxi] A minor may also be considered emancipated based on status, such as marriage or military service. [lxxii]
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.
What is the right of decision making?
Adults with decision-making capacity have a long-recognized and legally protected right to make decisions about their bodies and health, stemming from interest in their autonomy and bodily integrity . This is emphasized by famous cases like Cruzan v.
Who is Valarie Blake?
Valarie Blake, JD, MA is a senior research associate for the American Medical Association Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs in Chicago. Ms. Blake completed the Cleveland Fellowship in Advanced Bioethics, received her law degree with a certificate in health law and concentrations in bioethics and global health from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and obtained a master’s degree in bioethics from Case Western Reserve University. Her research focuses on ethical and legal issues in assisted reproductive technology and reproductive tissue transplants, as well as regulatory issues in research ethics.