Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 11, 2025

The Rigid Tube as an Alternative in Controlling the Problematic Airway
Published on: June 6, 2020
Can Parents Restrict Access to Their Adolescent's Voice?: Deciding About a Tracheostomy
Natalie Lanocha1, Tyler Tate2, Erica Salter3
1Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon; lanocha@ohsu.edu.
Abstract:
Parents are the default decision-makers for their infants and children. Their decisions should be based on the best interests of their children. Differing interpretations of children's best interests may be a source of conflict. Providers' biased evaluations of patients' quality of life may undermine medicine's trustworthiness. As children mature, they should participate in medical decision-making to the extent that is developmentally appropriate. In this month's Ethics Rounds, physicians, a philosopher, and a lawyer consider parents' demand, supported by the hospital's legal department, that their 17-year-old son be excluded from a potentially life-and-death medical decision.
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