Autonomy in adolescent medicine: A framework for decisions about life-sustaining treatment☆

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Abstract

A broad consensus has been reached in the last decade about the appropriateness of decisions to withhold life-sustaining treatment from competent adult patients. The situation in adolescent medicine is not so straightforward. Legal ambiguity in determining competence and clinical difficulty in assessing decision-making capacity make such decisions in adolescent medicine problematic. A framework for making decisions about withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining therapy from adolescent patients is proposed, and cases are given to illustrate the way the framework may be applied.

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    ☆

    The Center for Clinical Medical Ethics is supported by grants from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Pew Memorial Trusts.

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    Copyright © 1989 Published by Elsevier Inc.