Case One (Stephen) (Refusal of treatment) Essay

Case One (Stephen) (Refusal of treatment) - Essay ExampleIt will also be grave to examine case law in this area to see when the courts have overridden the wishes of an individual and how this has been achieved. Through examining case law and with reference to legislation it should be doable to determine whether a doc would have the power to override Stephens refusal of treatment. As there is no mention of the age of Stephen or whether he has every mental health issues, it will be necessary to consider the impact of the Children Acts and the Mental Health Acts, to determine whether these would assist Stephen in his refusal or whether a doctor would be entitled to force him to have treatment, irrespective of his wishes. The issue of take on has been encompassed into Art 5 and 8 of the Human Rights Acts (1998) (HRA), with the intention of giving respect to the familiarity of the patient. It has been noted by researches that doctors in general see consent as a legal requirement (Kess el, 1994). Human rights supporters have argued that the protection offered to adults should also bear to mature minors, which appears to have been addressed to a minor degree within the HRA (Hagger, 2003). In order for consent to be recognised as valid the rationale of informed consent has developed. Informed consent centres on the giving of sufficient information to a patient with regard to the complications that might ensure following the treatment, so that they can make an informed decision about the treatment. Actions for negligence have been successful in cases where the patient did not expose informed consent (Faden and Beauchamp, 1986). An warning of this is Sidaway v Bethlem RHG and others 19841, in which the patient had not been told of all the potential risks of the operation, and would not have given consent if they had known of these risks. Davis (2005) has argued that there should be a interchange in the law in relation to such matters, and that patients should be given the option as to how much information they would like to know about the procedure. Implied consent has occurred in situations where a patient has willingly allowed the medical professional to administer medication or injections. However, implied consent can be problematic as innocent attendance at the surgery or hospital does not mean that the patient is consenting to treatment. Autonomy is important in the decision making act and many legislative changes have been made in order to ensure the autonomy of the patient. Researchers such as Faden and Beauchamp (1986) believe that a patient has to be amply informed of the probable outcomes of the treatment in order to reach an autonomous decision. They were concerned that on some occasions persuasion and coercion might be used by the medical profession or the family of the patient to appeal to the patients sense of reason. Internationally the Nuremberg Code 1947 and the World Medical connection Declaration of Helsinki 1964 have been established as a means of increase patient autonomy. As mentioned earlier the HRA has also enshrined protection of the rights of adults and adolescents into the Articles, thereby increasing autonomous levels (Hewson, 2000). Many of the issues surrounding autonomy have been centred on the rights of the child, as evidenced by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1991 where the aim was to give children the same rights as