“She's not ready to give up yet!”: When a Family Member Overrides the Patient's Medical Decisions

Autonomy, which gives individuals the right to make informed decisions about their medical treatment, is a central principle in Western bioethics. However, we often encounter patients for whom a family member seems to dominate medical decision-making, to the extent that clinicians become concerned that the patient is subject to excessive pressure or even coercion. In this article we describe one such case and how we assess a decision-making process that involves family influence. This entails acknowledging that many individuals weigh their family member ’ preferences and/or well-being heavily in making medical decisions, and family norms for decision-making differ.
Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Tags: Ethical Issues in Palliative Care Source Type: research