A rural physician who is faced with treating patients outside of his area of specialization should confer with the necessary specialists and make every effort to help patients get the specific care that they need.
Physicians are obligated in many jurisdictions to perform life-sustaining treatments on premature infants with serious developmental or physical impairments, even if it goes against the parents' wishes.
David Collier, MD, PhD, Ronald M. Perkin, MD, MA, and Joseph R. Zanga, MD
The legal definitions of child neglect and child abuse are not as clear cut when faced with the issue of whether parents should be held responsible for failing to follow weight-loss plans for a morbidly obese child.
Dr Donald Egan joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Adriane M. dela Cruz, Sarah E. Baker, and John Z. Sadler: “When Are ‘Paraphernalia’ Critical Medical Supplies?”
A case that describes how treatment decisions for a seriously ill baby should consider the advice and recommendations of the medical team as well as the parental preferences for the child's care.
Physicians need to carefully explain the difficult medical realities of carrying a fetus with severe congenital abnormalities to term but then follow the wishes of a religious family who ask for reasonable medical care.