Is it ethical to withhold treatment?

While there may be an emotional difference between not initiating an intervention at all and discontinuing it later in the course of care, there is no ethical difference between withholding and withdrawing treatment.

Can a doctor withhold treatment?

There are three general contexts in which it is permissible and sometimes obligatory to refuse care: when doctors are subjected to abusive treatment, when the treatment requested is outside a doctor’s scope of practice, or when providing the requested treatment would otherwise violate one’s duties as a physician, such …

In what situations may a doctor be justified in withholding information?

If it is not practicable or appropriate to seek consent, and in exceptional cases where a patient has refused consent, disclosing personal information may be justified in the public interest if failure to do so may expose others to a risk of death or serious harm.

When should you withhold information from a patient?

Except in emergency situations in which a patient is incapable of making an informed decision, withholding information without the patient’s knowledge or consent is ethically unacceptable.

Is withholding information a malpractice?

Typically, medical malpractice claims involve some error or negligence, such as amputating the wrong body part. Failing to provide you with accurate information – or outright withholding that information – is considered malpractice.

Is withdrawal or withholding of treatment equivalent to euthanasia?

No. Withdrawal or withholding of treatment is a decision to allow a disease to follow its natural course, which may result in a patient’s death. Euthanasia, on the other hand, is a conscious decision to take actions with the specific intent to end a patient’s life.

When to withdraw or withhold treatment from a patient?

Decisions about withdrawing and withholding treatment are common in health care. During almost every encounter between health professionals and patients a decision needs to be made about treatment options. In most cases these choices do not pose any difficulty, for example, starting antibiotics when a patient has an infection.

Why is it ethical to withhold medical treatment?

Withdrawing or withholding medical treatment is more often an issue of good clinical judgement than an ethical dilemma. Where the ethics of a situation are complicated, an understanding of basic ethical principles is more useful than rigid guidelines.

Is it ethical to withdraw medical treatment from a patient?

This is morally acceptable as well, for the only alternative would be to put patients in the difficult situation of having to choose between not accepting a life-prolonging treatment and accepting it with the implicit commitment not to withdraw it in any situation.

What happens if a patient decides not to use life sustaining treatment?

A patient who decides not to use life-sustaining treatment or who decides not to continue using a life-sustaining treatment is not “committing suicide.” Likewise, an agent who makes the same request on behalf of the patient is not “killing” the patient.

Decisions about withdrawing and withholding treatment are common in health care. During almost every encounter between health professionals and patients a decision needs to be made about treatment options. In most cases these choices do not pose any difficulty, for example, starting antibiotics when a patient has an infection.

Withdrawing or withholding medical treatment is more often an issue of good clinical judgement than an ethical dilemma. Where the ethics of a situation are complicated, an understanding of basic ethical principles is more useful than rigid guidelines.

Can a parent make a decision to withhold treatment?

“On the other hand, it is well-settled that parents enjoy a substantive constitutional right to make decisions concerning their children’s care and welfare according to the dictates of their own consciences” [3]. The court noted that Texas law gives parents the right of informed consent regarding their children’s medical care.

What was the Millers right to withhold treatment?

The dissenting judge explained that the act expressly allowed, and did not deny, the Millers the right to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in a lawful manner. That is, although Sydney’s condition was not terminal and therefore not considered within the act, the Millers still retained their right to refuse.