Who should decide if a patient is allowed to refuse medical treatment?

[*bratcat*]

 

[Backyard sweaty]

From Bratcat: Now, my question is...should people be allowed to refuse treatment - for any reason - under the legal age of 19, which is what the courts bases their decision on. Who should be allowed to decide these things?

No. The United States Gov should decide cuz they are never wrong.

 

[mritsme]

We'll i think the patient should be well educated on both sides the treatment versus non treatment, but i think it is up to the patient even without any religion in place i will not touch that subject, but as a human and being ones own body the patient should have the right to refuse treatment and that goes for any age even old people and people on the death bed knowing if not treated that minute they will die the next, it is their life their choice.

 

[Ezzie]

No. The United States Gov should decide cuz they are never wrong.

This actually made me laugh out loud and startled the cats.

I think anyone regardless of age or religion should be able to decide what they want when it comes to medical treatment. As long as they have grasped and understand the consequences of their own actions. We have too many doctors out there who wish to play some form of God and I think that's wrong. It should be up to the patient to decide when they've had enough of living with sickness.

My dad died last November and he wasn't given a choice. Instead, he suffered with lot of pain and needless surgeries even though he knew he was going to die. They gave him medication to sedate him, put a tube down his throat to help him breathe and the whole time we knew he didn't want this. He never had a chance to sign a DNR form because his illness came on fast and they were on vacation in Colorado. So, instead of dying on his own terms, doctors poked, prodded and cut anything they could in their failed attempts at saving a man who didn't want to be saved.

 

[peachykeen]

Anyone of any age, Ezzie? So 5 year olds whould be allowed to decide if they want a shot or not?

 

[mritsme]

Anyone of any age, Ezzie? So 5 year olds whould be allowed to decide if they want a shot or not?

well 5 year old is touchy i think that decision would be weighrd on the parents as to talk with the kid and go about the best treatment possible

 

[Ezzie]

If my 6 year old had some horrible, incurable disease that caused nothing but pain and agony and 0 percent chance of survival, then yes, if she didn't wish to have treatment, I'd let it be that way. That's just me, though. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but, I don't want my child to suffer any more than life makes people suffer as is.

But, on the other hand, a lot of children her age don't have the concept of death that she has. She's watched too many people in my family die from anything from cancer to a heart attack of the bowel. I think in cases where the child at hand is under the age of 16, it should be discussed between the parents, the child, the doctor and their chosen religious leader.

Maybe using the term "any age" was a little strong, but, I'm just going by what I would do if it was my child.

 

[mritsme]

If my 6 year old had some horrible, incurable disease that caused nothing but pain and agony and 0 percent chance of survival, then yes, if she didn't wish to have treatment, I'd let it be that way. That's just me, though. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but, I don't want my child to suffer any more than life makes people suffer as is.

But, on the other hand, a lot of children her age don't have the concept of death that she has. She's watched too many people in my family die from anything from cancer to a heart attack of the bowel. I think in cases where the child at hand is under the age of 16, it should be discussed between the parents, the child, the doctor and their chosen religious leader.

Maybe using the term "any age" was a little strong, but, I'm just going by what I would do if it was my child.

Good point and if it were mine and very little chance for survival i would let him/her decide and just do everything that he/she wants to before time is up to give as much fun and experience of happy times that i could give to help ensure that he/she lived as much as possible and had more happy times while had the chance.

 

[Backyard sweaty]

To be serious for a moment..........

I am of the belief that no one under the age of "complete understanding" should be allowed to make that decision. Compound the stress alone of a decision of that magnitude and couple it with the stress of what if you chose wrong, the effects your decision has on family and friends and there is a lot of room for error.

I can't help but believe that the wisdom of age and experience let this girl down all the way around.

 

[ksmybuttons]

Those results may be true in Canada, but not in the USA. There are children younger than 16 who, when faced with a life threatening illness, are making the choices on whether or not they are ready to stop treatment. When anyone makes the decision to not treat AND someone objects, it goes to an ethics committee. The ethicists then make a recommendation. It would only go to the courts if someone still objected. I think there is more to the story you sited than just that they wouldn't let her make the decision.

 

[WhatsHerName]

I have a friend whose 13 yr old daughter right now only has a 13% chance of survival. There are some days that her daughter feels so rotten that she begs to die and be done with it. Then she has days when the radiation isn't making her sick and she actually has a reason to smile and wants to fight the cancer. My point is that she is 13 and still needs the encouragement to fight and to not give up. I think that we can all say what we would do or think that we would do. But until it is your baby laying there in pain and ill, you really don't know how that is going to effect you. Personally, I think I am gonna want a miracle. I would refuse to accept my child is dying. I would have to say that the parent of a minor child still has a big say in the medical treatment of that child...that is not to say that the childs wishes should be taken to heart.

 

[Backyard sweaty]

From WHN:
My point is that she is 13 and still needs the encouragement to fight and to not give up. I think that we can all say what we would do or think that we would do. But until it is your baby laying there in pain and ill, you really don't know how that is going to effect you. Personally, I think I am gonna want a miracle. I would refuse to accept my child is dying. I would have to say that the parent of a minor child still has a big say in the medical treatment of that child...that is not to say that the childs wishes should be taken to heart.

Well said.

 

[*bratcat*]

 

[WhatsHerName]

During many transfusions, Hughes struggled with hospital staff, who held her down in her hospital bed.

This statement really tugs at my heart. In this case at 17 this girl knew what she wanted, her beliefs were stong. As her parent it would have been hard to follow her wishes. My prayers go out to her family.