Ethical Dilemma: Refusing Life-Saving Treatment

University courses Medicine & Psychology
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A 15-year-old patient diagnosed with leukemia needs a blood transfusion as part of their treatment. However, the patient’s parents, due to their religious beliefs, refuse to consent to the transfusion. The patient, though a minor, understands the situation and seems to agree with their parents’ decision, expressing hesitation about the treatment. Without the transfusion, the patient’s chance of survival decreases significantly, and time is critical.

As the treating physician, you are caught between respecting the family’s religious beliefs and the patient’s apparent consent, while also feeling obligated to provide life-saving treatment under your duty of care.

Questions for Discussion:

  • Should the physician honor the parents’ and patient’s wishes, or intervene to provide the transfusion?
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This is such a complex situation! It really highlights the ethical dilemmas in healthcare, especially when it comes to balancing parental rights and the patient’s autonomy. If I were in the physician’s shoes, I think I’d feel torn between respecting the family’s beliefs and the urgency of saving the patient’s life.

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It almost seems like criminal negligence to not go through with the transfusion, saving a life is more important. If I was the physician, I would go through with it, not just because I (I’m assuming) would be investigated and probably charged but because it is the right thing to do, I say this as a Christian as well.

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