At MCNtalk we thought this posting in the New York Times “Views,” Guarding Privacy May Not Always Protect Patients, was an interesting read.
“Juggling parental concernwith an adolescent patient’s legal and ethical right to privacy,” the author, Dr. Perri Klaas notes, “opens up some tricky questions.”
The law varies state by state, but many, including New York, allow minors to consent by themselves to medical care involving such sensitive needs as contraception, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and mental health.
Clinics for adolescents are keenly conscious that the promise of confidential care is essential to gain and hold their young patients’ trust. But in those same clinics, doctors often try to convince teenagers to bring parents into the conversation. Read more…
This is an interesting article to read. I didn’t know that in some states minors were allowed to consent by themselves to medical care. This will be good information to share with my sister and her kids. Thank you for the information.