Question

Ethics and Issues in health care

PEDIATRIC TERMINATION OF LIFE

PLEASE PROVIDE CITATIONS FOR ALL ANSWERS

Case Summary

A 4-year-old boy suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a motor vehicle accident. Now, 6 months after the accident, he has been diagnosed as being in a permanent vegetative state. After multiple episodes of pneumonia, his lung function has deteriorated to the point of requiring long term mechanical ventilation. His parents provide the ventilation treatment at home, but he is periodically hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia. The physicians believe that continuing the ventilator is futile.

· Is this treatment futile?

· Who determines whether a treatment is futile?

· Who has the right to decide medical treatment for this child?

· Would these answers be different if the child were brain-dead or in a minimally conscious state?

Answer 1

1. Yes, from a medical science point of view the treatment is futile

2. The doctors are the ones who are legally authorized to determine whether the treatment is futile or not based on the patient's body response to infection.

3. The decision is up to the parents who are the ones that have the legal capacity to make decisions with respect to End of life support

4. In case of brain death, the decision is still up to parents as doctors do not have the legal right to pull off ventilation abolishing EOL support as it is a criminal offense