Can parents refuse medical treatment for their child?

Parents have the responsibility and authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their children. This includes the right to refuse or discontinue treatments, even those that may be life-sustaining. However, parental decision-making should be guided by the best interests of the child.

Can parents withhold medical treatment?

In the United States, adults can refuse any medical care, as long as they’re competent to make their own decisions. But it gets complicated when parents deny treatment for their children, especially when religion is involved.

What qualifies as medical neglect?

Medical neglect occurs when children are harmed or placed at significant risk of harm by gaps in their medical care. This is most likely to occur and to be recognized when families lack resources, commonly due to poverty, and when medical demands are high, such as with complex, severe, and chronic illness.

What happens when parents disagree about medical treatment?

In some cases, one parent will have legal custody of the child, giving them the final say on major healthcare decisions. But in most cases, parents share joint legal custody. In these instances, parents typically must come to an agreement regarding medical decisions.

Why do parents refuse medical treatment for their child?

The expected outcome of that treatment is a relatively normal life with a reasonably good quality of life. The child would die without the treatment. The parent is refusing to grant consent for the treatment.

When do parents have the right to refuse medical treatment for children?

For example: If a child has a terminal condition and several doctors agree that treatment is no longer beneficial for the child, then the parents have the right to refuse treatment and seek hospice care for their child.

Can a person refuse medical treatment due to mental illness?

Altered mental status: Patients may not have the right to refuse treatment if they have an altered mental status due to alcohol and drugs, brain injury, or psychiatric illness. Children: A parent or guardian cannot refuse life-sustaining treatment or deny medical care from a child.

What happens if a parent refuses to take care of their child?

When parents refuse necessary or life-saving care for their child, they could face serious legal consequences as well. States often refer to this as medical neglect and have laws against it.

What happens if a doctor refuses to treat a patient?

He or she may not be discharged if the discharge would result in a worsened or new medical condition. There are a few reasons why a doctor can refuse to treat a patient. The most obvious of these is if the doctor does not treat patients with the patient’s specific condition.