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Conflict in the Pediatric Setting: Clinical Judgment vs. Parental Autonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Amnon Goldworth
Amnon Goldworth
Affiliation:
a philosopher and Visiting Scholar at the Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University, Stanford, California
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Extract

Over the past several decades, conflicts between physicians and patients or patient surrogates concerning continued treatment or the withdrawal of treatment have received public and legal attention. In more recent years, there have been several prominent Instances in which physicians have refused to provide treatment requested by patient surrogates because such treatment was judged to be futile. The claim that a treatment is futile has far reaching consequences. It serves to justify the withholding or withdrawal of treatment and thus, perhaps, to also justify the rationing of healthcare. It limits the autonomy of the patient or patient surrogate by reducing their participation in the decision making process.

Type
Special Section: Beyond Autonomy
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Winter 1995 , pp. 36 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

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