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- Title
Managing ethically questionable parental requests: Growth suppression and manipulation of puberty.
- Authors
Isaacs, David; Tobin, Bernadette; Hamblin, Julie; Slaytor, Emma; Donaghue, Kim C; Munns, Craig; Kilham, Henry A
- Abstract
Doctors sometimes struggle with ethically challenging requests for treatment from children's parents. For instance, we have recently had two requests by parents of children, a girl and a boy, each with a severe developmental disability, for hormonal therapy to suppress growth and puberty: the girl's parents requested, in addition, hysterectomy and mastectomy. We propose a reliable approach to assessing the ethical and legal aspects of these and other requests for 'non-therapeutic' treatment of a minor who lacks the capacity to give informed consent. We argue that a doctor should first assess whether the request is one that he or she can, in conscience, accede to, and then, if it is, seek the authorisation of a court. We outline considerations relevant to the doctor's assessment of both the ethical issues and to the need for court authorisation.
- Subjects
PEDIATRIC therapy; DECISION making in clinical medicine; PUBERTY -- Physiological aspects; CHILD development; PARENTS of developmentally disabled children; HYSTERECTOMY; MASTECTOMY
- Publication
Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, 2011, Vol 47, Issue 9, p581
- ISSN
1034-4810
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02156.x