Informed non-dissent for brain death testing in children: ethical and legal perspectives

A 14-year-old girl, Hana, is admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit following a sudden collapse at home. She is found to have sustained a severe haemorrhagic stroke. Despite emergency neurosurgical intervention, she deteriorates over several days. Her family have been struggling to accept the possibility that she would not recover. Hana remains unresponsive, has fixed dilated pupils and has developed diabetes insipidus. The clinical team suspect that she is brain dead. Should the family’s consent be sought for brain death testing? (This case is fictitious.) In mid-2022, the high profile case of Archie Battersbee raised a number of ethical and legal questions about the medical care of children suspected to be brain dead, particularly in the setting of family disagreement.1 2 Ultimately in Archie’s case, formal brain death testing was not possible (because he did not meet the preconditions). However, there was a long...
Source: Archives of Disease in Childhood - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Ethics and law for clinical practice Source Type: research