Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2021
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2021
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Letters

Competency of adolescents to make informed decisions

Martin G. Wolfish
CMAJ November 28, 2000 163 (11) 1424;
Martin G. Wolfish
Past-President Canadian Paediatric Society Past-President Society for Adolescent Medicine North York General Hospital Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Metrics
  • Responses
  • PDF
Loading

Christopher Doig and Ellen Burgess have carefully and accurately researched the rights of adolescents to accept or refuse life-sustaining treatment.1 Pediatricians, family physicians, surgeons, nurses and paramedical staff caring for teenagers are aware of the necessity to respect the wishes of their patient, even if the patient makes decisions that are contrary to the wishes of his or her parents or the judgement of those responsible for his or her treatment.

The competency of children and adolescents to make informed decisions, if they understand the nature and consequence of that decision, has been examined by many professional bodies,2,3,4 including the Canadian Paediatric Society,5 the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Society for Adolescent Medicine.6,7 There have also been court decisions in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, as cited by the authors, supporting this principle.

Where the minor's decision differs from that of parents or caregivers, ethical considerations demand compassionate counselling for decision-making but the wishes of the patient must never be overriden. I am appalled that the hospital's legal counsel ignored this minor's rights. Was he or she more concerned about the hospital's potential liability than about the child?

References

  1. 1.↵
    Doig C, Burgess E. Withholding life-sustaining treatment: Are adolescents competent to make these decisions? CMAJ 2000;162(11):1585-8.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    Rosovsky FA. The age of majority vs the age of consent. In: vol 1 of Ethical issues in paediatrics series. Toronto: The Hospital for Sick Children; 1991.
  3. 3.↵
    Gittler J, Quigley-Rick M, Saks MJ. Adolescent health care decision making: the law and public policy. Washington (DC): Carnegie Council for Adolescent Development; 1991.
  4. 4.↵
    English A. Treating adolescents: legal and ethical considerations. Med Clin North Am 1990;74:1097.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  5. 5.↵
    Doherty D, Kaufman M, Lindsay D, Panzer L, Sharpe D, Tonkin R. Age limits and adolescents [policy statement]. Ottawa (ON): Canadian Paediatric Society; 1994.
  6. 6.↵
    Sigman, G, Silber T, English A, Gans J. Confidential health care for adolescents [policy statement]. Blue Springs (MO): Society for Adolescent Medicine; 1991.
  7. 7.↵
    Hoffman AH. The right to consent and confidentiality in adolescent health care. In: Bandman EL, Bandman B, editors. Bioethics and human rights. A reader for health professionals. Boston: Little Brown; 1978.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

CMAJ
Vol. 163, Issue 11
28 Nov 2000
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Competency of adolescents to make informed decisions
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Competency of adolescents to make informed decisions
Martin G. Wolfish
CMAJ Nov 2000, 163 (11) 1424;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Competency of adolescents to make informed decisions
Martin G. Wolfish
CMAJ Nov 2000, 163 (11) 1424;
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • References
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Respiratory syncytial virus and palivizumab prophylaxis in the COVID-19 era
  • Eliminating racism in research
  • Transitioning to outpatient arthroplasty during COVID-19: time to pivot
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, CMA Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of the resources on this site in an accessible format, please contact us at cmajgroup@cmaj.ca.

Powered by HighWire