Courts have the authority to overrule parents when their medical decisions threaten the life or health of their offspring. In such cases, temporary custody is removed from the parents and a specific guardian (termed a “guardian ad litem”) is appointed to make medical decisions for the minor.
On January 8, 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision and ruled that Cassandra must continue to undergo chemotherapy against her will. Separate lawyers for the mother and daughter sought to have the teen considered a “mature minor,” which would grant her the right to refuse lifesaving treatment, but the court declined to rule on that aspect, siding with the medical judgment that there is an 85 percent chance of surviving Hodgkin’s lymphoma by treating with chemotherapy.
Years ago at Albert Einstein College of Medicine we had a neonatal ethics committee that advised physicians in ethically troubling cases. A leading principle used in the committee’s deliberations was the following: “Parents are presumed to be the decision-makers for their children unless their decision is clearly against the best interest of the child.” The committee spent considerable effort seeking to determine when a parental decision was clearly against the infant’s best interest. Newborns and young children cannot make such judgments for themselves, but what about a teen who will reach the age of majority within a year?
- See more at: http://blogs.einstein.yu.edu/the-ethical-dilemma-of-forced-chemotherapy-on-a-teen/#sthash.xuAd1eH5.dpuf
Courts have the authority to overrule parents when their medical decisions threaten the life or health of their offspring. In such cases, temporary custody is removed from the parents and a specific guardian (termed a “guardian ad litem”) is appointed to make medical decisions for the minor.On January 8, 2015, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision and ruled that Cassandra must continue to undergo chemotherapy against her will. Separate lawyers for the mother and daughter sought to have the teen considered a “mature minor,” which would grant her the right to refuse lifesaving treatment, but the court declined to rule on that aspect, siding with the medical judgment that there is an 85 percent chance of surviving Hodgkin’s lymphoma by treating with chemotherapy.Years ago at Albert Einstein College of Medicine we had a neonatal ethics committee that advised physicians in ethically troubling cases. A leading principle used in the committee’s deliberations was the following: “Parents are presumed to be the decision-makers for their children unless their decision is clearly against the best interest of the child.” The committee spent considerable effort seeking to determine when a parental decision was clearly against the infant’s best interest. Newborns and young children cannot make such judgments for themselves, but what about a teen who will reach the age of majority within a year?- See more at: http://blogs.einstein.yu.edu/the-ethical-dilemma-of-forced-chemotherapy-on-a-teen/#sthash.xuAd1eH5.dpuf
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