Abstract
A decision to forgo life-sustaining medical treatment (LSMT) for a critically ill child injured as the result of abuse should be made using the same criteria as those used for any critically ill child. The parent or guardian of an abused child may have a conflict of interest when a decision to forgo LSMT risks changing the legal charge faced by a parent, guardian, relative, or acquaintance from assault to manslaughter or homicide. If a physician suspects that a parent or guardian is not acting in a child's best interest, further review and consultation should be sought in hopes of resolving the conflict. A guardian ad litem who will represent the child's interests regarding LSMT should be appointed in all cases in which a parent or guardian may have a conflict of interest.
Publisher
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
Subject
Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Reference10 articles.
1. Declaring pediatric brain death: current practice in a Canadian pediatric critical care unit.;Parker;Can Med Assoc J.,1995
2. Brain death in pediatric intensive care unit patients: incidence, primary diagnosis, and the clinical occurrence of Turner's triad.;Staworn;Crit Care Med.,1994
3. Guidelines on forgoing life-sustaining medical treatment.;American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Bioethics;Pediatrics.,1994
4. Ethics and the provision of futile, harmful, or burdensome treatment to children.;Nelson;Crit Care Med.,1992
5. Caring for gravely ill children.;Fleischman;Pediatrics.,1994
Cited by
35 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献