Can doctors and parents disagree about a child’s medical treatment?
Doctors and parents sometimes disagree about a child’s medical treatment. As the recent case of six-year-old boy Oshin Kiszko highlights, some disagreements between doctors and parents can’t be resolved by further information and discussion. Oshin has brain cancer.
Should doctors and parents choose in the best interests of their children?
When there is an entrenched disagreement between doctors and parents, focusing only on whether the parents are choosing in the child’s best interests is ethically problematic. 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.
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.
How should clinicians respond to parents who disagree with their recommendations?
Traditionally, clinicians have thought in terms of the child’s best interests when deciding how to respond when parents disagree with their recommendations. Acting in a child’s best interests means doing the thing that will have the best possible outcome for him or her.
Can doctors override parents decisions?
However, there are situations where doctors can disagree with a parent's decision if a child is in a severe medical dilemma. The parens patriae doctrine gives the state the right to intervene with a parent's decision when it's believed they are not acting in the best interest for the child's well-being.
What happens if parents disagree on medical treatment?
If your child's legal custodian refuses a life-saving or life-improving medication, surgery, vaccine, or other medical procedure and you disagree, you can petition the court for intervention.
What if parents refuse a treatment recommended by the physician?
The parent may face child abuse, child neglect, and assault charges for failing to provide the necessary medical care for their child. A conviction on these criminal charges could mean penalties like time in prison, fines, and mandated parenting classes.
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.
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 course of action should be taken when two parents disagree on treatment for their child?
If you have joint legal custody and are unable to come to an agreement with the other parent, you may have to go through mediation to resolve these disagreements. Alternatively, you could agree to have a neutral third party decide for you. In drastic situations, the court may decide on your behalf.
What is a parental autonomy case?
Parental-Autonomy Doctrine refers to a principle that parents have fundamental right to raise his or her child and to make all decisions concerning that child free from governmental intervention, unless the child's health and welfare are jeopardized by the parent's decisions.
What decisions should parents make for their child?
Here are ten difficult decisions parents make to ensure their child is on the right path.Choosing a school. ... Which parent is going to stay home. ... Choosing a college out of state. ... When it's time to get a driver's license. ... Vaccinations. ... Unplugging from the internet. ... Arguments. ... Food.More items...•
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.
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.
Should parents influence the decisions you make?
As a parent, you influence your child's basic values, like religious values, and issues related to their future, like educational choices. And the stronger your relationship with your child, the more influence you'll have, because your child will be more likely to seek your guidance and value your opinion and support.
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.
Who bears the responsibility for medical decisions?
Parents also bear the primary burden of the medical decisions made for their children, caring for them in the long term. But the parental right to make medical decisions is not unlimited. Their decision-making role is sometimes questioned when they don’t agree with the recommended treatment for their child.
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 are parents the decision makers?
Parents are the default medical decision-makers for their children for many ethically important reasons. 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 ...
Why do parents refuse artificial feeding?
To avoid blood transfusion for religious reasons, parents sometimes prefer a different, less-effective form of surgery to that recommended by the doctors. In one case, parents declined artificial feeding for an undernourished child with a disability, preferring the child remained lighter for lifting.
What is a child's 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. There is no straightforward way of calculating well-being and comparing it across treatment options to identify which would be best.