Have you ever considered refusing a treatment/therapy for your dc?

[meltedmarsbars]

Just wondered...

Its the "well the tests show this so we could try that" sort of stuff with no proven history that I'm talking about, not the life-or-death blood transfusion.

Thanks for that nightcat. we're only just at the start of things really and finding it very easy to feel overwhelmed.

It would be very easy in one respect to be the compliant parents, but in another I worry that we wouldn't be acting ds best interests and are in danger of letting medicine rule his life unnecessarily.

I do like the line about thinking things over though.. that may get used.

I think that if the medics strongly disagree with a parents decision to refuse a treatment, they have been known to go to the courts to get a judicial decision? Is that true or have I been reading too many DMs?

Its also hard for the medics to advise on outcomes for a condition they know so little about too.

Not easy all round. So far we have had very sensible doctors (mostly!)

meltedmarsbars, there are situations where NHS Trusts can ask for a child to be made a "ward of court", to override a parents' decision on medical treatment when the child is not of an age to consent, and the drs feel strongly that a course of treatment is essential and/or lifesaving. A well-known example is the refusal of a child having a blood transfusion by parents who are Jehovah's Witnesses. Although Drs don't like it, adults can choose to withhold consent even if the result is certain death, as long as they can be seen to be of sound mind. However, should a child's life be at risk, the Trust is very likely to go to court to save the child's life and avoid an assault charge at the same time.

Generally speaking, it is a very extreme thing to go to court to force treatment, and the medical profession are bound to try and resolve differences of opinion at the bedside wherever possible. To get a court order, the evidence for the necessity of treatment has to be really quite compelling.

The other side of the coin is when parents insist on intervention when the medical profession feels that the intervention is futile and will cause suffering in itself. Again, the courts can intervene and make a judgement.

SMacK could you say why you said no to the 'More than Words' course?
We did and find it very useful, so I'm just curious about downsides which I haven't seen