Ethics & Law · patient case question
The 8-year-old attends with his grandmother and no consent form is on file. What is the most appropriate action for routine treatment?
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. Contact the parent or legal guardian to obtain consent
- A. A child's assent is ethically important and should always be sought, but a minor cannot give legally valid consent for treatment.
- B. Correct. Consent for a minor rests with the parent or legal guardian. A grandmother has no automatic authority unless she holds documented guardianship or a written authorisation to consent. Reaching the parent, even by telephone with a witness and contemporaneous documentation, is the correct first step.
- C. Relatives who accompany a child cannot consent by virtue of relationship alone. Practices should keep documented authorisation on file for anyone who regularly brings a child.
- D. Rescheduling is reasonable if the parent cannot be reached, but simply discharging the patient with no attempt to contact them skips the necessary step.
Note: This is routine care. In a true emergency, care needed to relieve pain or address a threat to health may proceed under implied or emergency consent, with contemporaneous documentation of the attempts made to reach the guardian.