Defense Date
2-22-2024
Graduation Date
Spring 5-10-2024
Availability
Immediate Access
Submission Type
dissertation
Degree Name
PhD
Department
Health Care Ethics
School
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Committee Chair
Joris Gielen
Committee Member
Gerard Magill
Committee Member
Peter Osuji
Committee Member
Joris Gielen
Keywords
assent, decision-making, surrogate consent, consent, dissent, minor assent, treatment decision, surrogacy, vaccination, savior siblings
Abstract
This dissertation, The Ethical Justification of Medical Interventions Across the Spectrum of Healthcare for Patients Preceding the Age of Consent: the Tension Between Surrogate Consent and Minor Assent, will aim to provide ethical justification for medical intervention for patients preceding the age of consent. To begin, decision-making for medical intervention in all forms will be examined. Followed by, beginning of life interventions into complex and controversial situations for medical intervention which then leads into end-of-life considerations for patients preceding the age of consent. These chapters will pose various ethical considerations for some more contentious dilemmas. It has been pondered the differences between surrogate decision making for adults who lose capacity as determined providers compared with decision making capacity for minors who never previously had capacity. An intermediate comparison may be that of adult patients with intellectual/cognitive challenges who do not meet typical determination for adult capacity for medical decision making. Further analysis will be explored in the context of various situations with different dynamics to be weighed. Tension in decision-making may be present throughout, ethics may justify interventions in most of these presented cases and raise new questions for future study. As social climates, laws, and local policies change the tension discussed here is impacted as well and is subject to ebb and flow in the future.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Scroggins, E. (2024). The Ethical Justification of Medical Interventions Across the Spectrum of Healthcare for Patients Preceding the Age of Consent: the Tension between Surrogate Consent and Minor Assent (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/2333
Additional Citations
E. Hedglen. “Ethical Significance of Lead Toxicity on Child Development: Water, Flint, and the Call for Justice.” Toward a Healthy Planet, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021, ch. 10, pp. 130-135.