Terminal Illness

Introduction

Physicians see thousands of patients yearly and a good majority of them are children and teenagers. Children and teenagers receive life-sustaining treatment when they are faced with a terminal illness. When a patient, that is a mature minor, decides not to receive any more life-sustaining treatments most often their wishes are not heard.

Teenager refusing medical treatment

The final decision is ultimately up to the parent. Although children cannot make the final decision on his or her own behalf the parents should discuss the alternatives with the children so he or she can have a better understanding of what will or may happen to him or her. The child is experiencing the pains and the continuous pokes over his or her body. (Fried, 1007)

In general, consent refers to an agreement given freely by one individual or entity to another. In a medical setting, consent is qualified by the word "informed." Before medical practitioners can treat a patient, they must provide that individual with information about the nature of the medical procedure and any risks inherent in it. A doctor's failure to disclose this information to a patient can vitiate the patient's consent to receive treatment and opens the door to a world of problems for the healthcare provider. Without valid permission from a patient, any type of direct contact by a doctor to a patient could result in a tort action of battery or in a criminal charge of assault. Thus, informed consent can have an enormous impact on the entire medical community. (Fried, 1007)

Patients who provide informed consent for medical treatment must be competent; they must be able to understand the nature and consequences of treatment and be capable of reasoning a decision. A mentally competent patient also can refuse medical treatment even if the treatment is necessary for survival. A doctor may not agree with a patient's decision to reject medical attention, but as long as the person is capable of making that decision, the doctor must respect it.

The specific age for a person to enjoy certain rights as an adult varies throughout the Canadian provinces depending on the provisions of particular legislation. New Brunswick's legislation permits a minor rather than an adult guardian to consent to medical treatment. The Medical Consent of Minors Act provides that any child under 16 years of age who is "capable of understanding the nature and consequences of a medical treatment" can provide consent for the administration of medical treatment. British Columbia has a similar provision stating that a child who "understands the nature and consequences and the reasonably foreseeable benefits and risks of healthcare" can consent to treatment. These statutes concur with the Canadian common law doctrine that any child who is mature and understands the nature of medical procedure can consent to such treatment.

The majority of the cases have not provided a clear indication of the person who is responsible for assessing a child's maturity level and understanding. The British Columbia Medical Consent of Minors Act suggests that the medical ...