Parent’s consent to medicine

[SomeRandom]

So I am a little curious about how medical decisions of minors works wherever you live, specifically.
Obviously this will vary country to country and likely state to state. Indeed the age of what’s considered a minor differs place to place.

Doctors performing various medical procedures usually need parental/guardian consent.
However there are likely going to be quite a few caveats to that.
I’m merely curious as to what that looks like in your home state/country.

For instance here in Queensland a minor (person under 18) will need parental/guardian consent for most medical procedures.
If an underaged person is able to prove that they fully understand the consequences of certain medical procedures, then it is possible for a minor to make a medical decision without parental consent. I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but I do know that it is a possibility. Likely a loophole to try to avoid abusive scenarios, I would think.
The family court can be petitioned to allow or disallow certain medical procedures of minors, depending on the scenario. As far as I’m aware anyway.

Now this next thing is likely going to be considered somewhat controversial.
But in QLD a minor does not actually need parental permission for an abortion procedure. This is likely because the legal age of consent is actually 16, so sexual health kind of falls under a different category, legally speaking.
And again to try to avoid possible abusive scenarios as much as possible, I would imagine.

So how bout where you live?
And indeed what are you thoughts on it?
Can it be improved upon where you live?
Discuss as you like

 

[Erebus]

In the UK, it's pretty ambiguous and is largely centred on whether a doctor feels somebody has the capacity to give consent. Broadly speaking, people are divided into three age groups:

Adults (18 years and older) can normally consent to medical treatments or refuse medical treatments (even lifesaving treatments) by themselves.

Young people (16-17) have largely the same capacity for consent as adults but can also have their consent overruled in exceptional circumstances. For example, while an adult has the right to refuse life-saving treatment, a young person might have that decision overruled.

Children (15 and under) have some capacity to consent if their doctor deems them mature enough and that it's in the child's best interest, otherwise it's up to somebody with parental responsibility. In the UK, you could have an abortion without parental consent even if you're under 16 if the doctor feels that it's in your best interest for example. Parental consent can also be overruled by a court or not sought at all in the case of emergency lifesaving treatment.

All of this is just a taste of how sticky the issue of medical consent in the UK is. Even adults can have limits to their consent. For example, they might be given medication without their consent if they were deemed a danger to themselves or others as the result of a mental illness.

For the most part, I think the UK's ambiguous approach to children's consent is probably for the best as it allows room for nuance in an area that's fraught with ethical dilemmas. I think that making a judgement on maturity along with factoring in the importance of the treatment in question is probably better than just outright denying them any say in what happens to them.

My problems with the UK's consent system are actually much more focused on the limitations adults can face. While no consent system is going to be simple, I think we're roughly on the right track with under 18s.

 

[Estro Felino]

The physicians need the parental\guardian consent to operate on a minor.
The physicians need their signature.

 

[Truth in love]

So I am a little curious about how medical decisions of minors works wherever you live, specifically.
Obviously this will vary country to country and likely state to state. Indeed the age of what’s considered a minor differs place to place.

Doctors performing various medical procedures usually need parental/guardian consent.
However there are likely going to be quite a few caveats to that.
I’m merely curious as to what that looks like in your home state/country.

For instance here in Queensland a minor (person under 18) will need parental/guardian consent for most medical procedures.
If an underaged person is able to prove that they fully understand the consequences of certain medical procedures, then it is possible for a minor to make a medical decision without parental consent. I’m not entirely sure of the specifics, but I do know that it is a possibility. Likely a loophole to try to avoid abusive scenarios, I would think.
The family court can be petitioned to allow or disallow certain medical procedures of minors, depending on the scenario. As far as I’m aware anyway.

Now this next thing is likely going to be considered somewhat controversial.
But in QLD a minor does not actually need parental permission for an abortion procedure. This is likely because the legal age of consent is actually 16, so sexual health kind of falls under a different category, legally speaking.
And again to try to avoid possible abusive scenarios as much as possible, I would imagine.

So how bout where you live?
And indeed what are you thoughts on it?
Can it be improved upon where you live?
Discuss as you like

In general anyone under 18 needs mom or dad. 14 for mental health care in some states. I studied some California law years back there was no option other than emancipation to get a tooth filled for a minor whose parents said no, but 4 different legal routes to get an abortion.

For years schools have been trying to make more of these decisions and it’s made a very odd patchwork.

I saw a thing awhile back that the school can’t give your son an Advil, but can talk to him about cutting off his penis.

The more complex the legal rules the more mistakes will be made and the more harm done.