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The Persistence of Physician–Parent Conflicts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2010

AMNON GOLDWORTH
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Extract

In 1985, after a long university career teaching philosophy and humanities, in which my only serious worries over the years were centered on such things as getting promoted, course preparations, and faculty affairs, I found myself confronted, as a medical ethics committee member, with a life and death issue. It concerned the care of an infant suffering from posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus, for which there appeared to be no permanently effective treatment. The parents refused to consider the discontinuing of aggressive care even though this prolonged the suffering of their child. This standoff continued for 5 months, until the parents decided that it was God’s wish that aggressive treatment cease.

Type
Perspectives
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 2010 , pp. 563 - 566
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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References

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