When can a child decide if they want a medication/vaccine themselves ?

[Medicationquery]

Is it 14 or is it younger? Dd is 13 and is refusing vaccinations and has now also told us she refuses a medication that may help a medical condition (extreme pain due to endometriosis) and wants to just carry on taking the current medication . She is very calm and gives us her reasons and is very intelligent for her age so does this mean she now has that choice ? I have heard of gilick competence but I wasn’t sure .

The issue with the medication is that her attendance is 93% as often day 1 (sometimes 2) of her cycle are so painful and heavy she has to stay at home. The school are saying she HAS to accept a treatment on offer or they will not authorise her absences and will fine because they were made aware that she had been offered something which may help. I feel stuck in the middle as it’s dds body and she refuses hormonal medication ?

Even if it's decided she can't make the decisions herself how are you going to make her take the medication/have the vaccination in reality. You can't hold her down, the only way would be court order which is very unlikely to happen.

I would be inclined to support her choice and challenge the school if they fine. Gillick competence would certainly come into play here imo but I’m not a lawyer. Best to you both xx

Why on earth would she NOT want it if it's going to ease her suffering?

I don’t want to force her at all! I’m hoping some gentle education about vaccines will help her overcome any fears and in terms of the pill I feel it is her choice she has explained she does not like the possible side effects and wants to carry on with the current prescription it’s just the school issue they are not allowing her the choice

She is very concerned about side effects and doesn’t want to ‘feel different’ I think maybe due to having ASD as well it’s that she is concerned about sensory issues from side effects

Yep Gillick comptence applies in a medical setting, simply if she understands the implications then it’s her decision to choose a treatment plan rather than a parent or guardian’s decision.

In terms of the school, then just like a work place they can’t inisit she takes medication. They don’t have that authority. In theory courts can make a decision to force someone to have treatment but that tends to only happen very rarely and only life threatening or life changing situations and it would be the medical team who applies to the courts.

Do you mean vaccinations or injections?

I would be telling school that she is currently taking medication for it so has accepted a treatment on offer - so it should be authorised. School cannot force her to take medication in any way - especially not to try to change to new meds.

Honestly at her age she is old enough to make the decision I think - if you make sure she's got access to all of the resources to do research and she's spoken to a medical professional, then it's her choice.

What is she taking at the minute? I struggle really badly with my endo and the be you period patches do help dial it down a lot

Vaccinations she refuses to have them now the nasal spray or any injection as 3 years ago had a bad reaction to one

Tranexamic acid and painkillers

This^ is my response too.
It is her decision. She has chosen a treatment on offer. Hormonal treatment may not be an improvement anyway and comes with risks and side effects that she can rightly be concerned enough about to not want to risk taking them.
The school cannot bully you into bullying her to try them.

I don’t know why you have added “vaccines” on there as there isn’t an endometriosis vaccine as such so she’s not refusing a vaccine.

If the side effects aren't too awful I'd encourage taking it for 3 months but I wouldn't force her - not that I could.

School are being very unfair, I'd let them take me to court and explain there about her disability and the impact it has on her taking medication. Depending on your MP I might involve them too, you can't force someone to take medication

Which vaccine did she react to?

The other thing that helps me is starting painkillers beforehand (I take paracetamol, naproxen, dihydrocodeine and oral morphine)
Maybe a tens machine? Like the myoovi ones

I mean she has separately refused to have some vaccines

The flu nasal vaccine it made her asthma really flare up and she had to go to an and e . They told us in future to have the injectable flu vaccine but she has refused since anyway

I was looking at the myoovi the other day is it good ?

School is a bit different compared to an employer because of the potential for fining, but also because illness is a total defence.

So the school can't insist she tries a medication, and as she's ill, they can't fine her.

An employer also can't insist an employee tries a medication, but if they refuse to take reasonable measures to mitigate their symptoms then thats going to impact on any disciplinary/capability proceedings I would expect.

I'd be batting this one straight back at the school, how dare they bully you and your daughter.
It sounds like she had made a perfectly reasonable decision. You and the school may wish she would try the new treatment, but she has a valid reason for not wishing to at the moment.
It's something we all have to weigh up when offered medical treatments.
I was recently offered a range of options for treatment, ranging from surgery, through regular painkillers, to doing nothing. None of those options were forced on me, as the patient it was my decision.
There are very few situations when forced medication is acceptable, and the disapproval of a school head is not one of them.

I've not tried it yet but it's on my list as I'm waiting for surgery
I go through so many of the be you patches as my pain is unpredictable - I get it around ovulation too

I think Gillick kicks in at 12? Realistically though you can't really force medication unless they're still very small (or you're prepared to restrain them).

The school can do one but for your DD’s sake it’s worth trying to persuade her to try the medication because it might reduce her pain.

I would like to educate and persuade her re vaccinations as I think they are important but I’d never force her. In terms of the pill I want to respect her wishes but was concerned this leaves us open to fines and court action ?

Oh no! She should never have been given the nasal flu spray. I hope you can tell her how that vaccine is actually contraindicated for asthmatics as it gives a live virus whereas the injections give an attenuated virus or even just DNA components of a virus so are MUCH safer with a lot fewer reactions.