Ethics & Law · patient case question
For the emancipated 16-year-old, who may validly sign the informed consent?
Patient case: Two consents and a signature
demo: Two consecutive patients
chief: Both need treatment today and questions arise about who may give consent.
history: The first is a 16-year-old girl who has been legally emancipated and attends with her 21-year-old sister. The second is an 8-year-old boy brought by his grandmother; no consent form is on file and the parents cannot be reached by phone.
meds: None relevant.
findings: Neither patient is in pain or has an acute infection. Both attend for routine restorative care.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Only the patient herself
- A. Contacting the parents would breach the confidentiality that emancipation is designed to protect.
- B. Correct. Emancipation confers adult legal status for healthcare decisions. She consents for herself, and no relative can consent on her behalf. The sister has no legal standing here whatever her age, and telling the patient otherwise would undermine a right she has already been granted.
- C. This is the trap. Adding an adult relative does not strengthen a consent that is already valid, and accepting the sister's signature instead would render the consent defective.
- D. The sister has no authority. Being over 18 does not make someone a legal guardian.