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Has the Emphasis on Autonomy Gone Too Far? Insights from Dostoevsky on Parental Decisionmaking in the NICU

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2006

JOHN J. PARIS ,
NEIL GRAHAM ,
MICHAEL D. SCHREIBER  and
MICHELE GOODWIN
JOHN J. PARIS
Affiliation:
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
NEIL GRAHAM
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Chicago Hospitals, Chicago, Illinois
MICHAEL D. SCHREIBER
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago Children's Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
MICHELE GOODWIN
Affiliation:
Health Law Institute, DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois
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Extract

In a recent essay, George Annas, the legal columnist for The New England Journal of Medicine, observed that the resuscitation of extremely premature infants, even over parental objection, is not problematic because “once the child's medical status has been determined, the parents have the legal authority to make all subsequent decisions.” Annas himself is quick to concede that treatment in a high-technology neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) frequently takes on a life of its own. He also acknowledges that although bioethicists and courts agree that there is no ethical or legal difference between withholding or withdrawing a respirator from a patient, parents and physicians find the withdrawal much more emotionally troubling.

Type
SPECIAL SECTION: THE POWER OF CHOICE: AUTONOMY, INFORMED CONSENT, AND THE RIGHT TO REFUSE
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 147 - 151
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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