Can 'Medical Futility' Conflicts be Mediated?

Choong, Kartina Aisha

doi:10.7590/221354018x15446248389244

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Concerns raised about mediation in disputes involving a public body such as an NHS Trust or local authority also include a perception that mediation involves compromise, and these disputes are not amenable to compromise. 49 We argue that mediation should not be seen as a route to compromise, something neither party in healthcare disputes could countenance when issues of life and death are at stake. In such contexts, the ‘stereotypical image of a mediated settlement model, often characterised in terms of a confidential carve-up borne of an unseemly horse-trade, need not apply.…”

Section: The Role Of Mediationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Navigating conflict: The role of mediation in healthcare disputes

Lindsey,

Doyle,

Wazynska-Finck

2023

Clinical Ethics

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Navigating conflict in healthcare settings can be challenging for all parties involved. Here, we analyse disputes about the provision of healthcare to patients, specifically exploring how mediation might be used to resolve disputes where healthcare professionals may disagree with the patient themselves or the patient's family about what healthcare is in the patient's best interests. Despite concerns about compromise over the patient's best interests, there is often room for the parties to come together and think about how the dispute might be resolved in a way that is acceptable to all. It is in this space where mediation might step in. We set out the potential benefits and risks of mediation in this article, and argue that there is a need for clearer, empirically grounded evidence on the use of mediation in healthcare disputes.

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Section: The Role Of Mediationmentioning

confidence: 91%

Navigating conflict: The role of mediation in healthcare disputes

Lindsey,

Doyle,

Wazynska-Finck

2023

Clinical Ethics

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“…Alfie Evans was a Liverpool infant whose parents lost a long legal battle over his medical treatment in 2018. 11 Alfie had a severe neurodegenerative disorder—a condition causing progressive, inexorable loss of brain function (it was undiagnosed at the time, but after his death it was found to be a form of GABA transaminase deficiency). 12…”

Section: A Good Deathmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sleep softly: Schubert, ethics and the value of dying well

Wilkinson

2020

J Med Ethics

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Ethical discussions about medical treatment for seriously ill babies or children often focus on the ‘value of life’ or on ‘quality of life’ and what that might mean. In this paper, I look at the other side of the coin—on the value of death, and on the quality of dying. In particular, I examine whether there is such a thing as a good way to die, for an infant or an adult, and what that means for medical care. To do that, I call on philosophy and on personal experience. However, I will also make reference to art, poetry and music. That is partly because the topic of mortality has long been reflected on by artists as well as philosophers and ethicists. It is also because, as we will see, there may be some useful parallels to draw.

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“…90 Kartina Choong argues that in medical futility cases, where there is an absence of a middle ground and the courts frequently side with doctors, the ability for mediation to lead to a satisfactory resolution is limited. 91 Consequently, the courts should retain a role if a dispute cannot be successfully mediated. Nonetheless, US research indicates that mediation can be an effective means of reaching a principled resolution to disputes.…”

Section: Reformmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tafida Raqeeb v. Barts NHS Foundation Trust and Others [2019]: Bolstering the argument for mediation

Benbow

2019

Medical Law International

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The Tafida Raqeeb case comprised both a judicial review and a determination of Tafida’s best interests. The judicial review concerned Barts Health NHS Trust’s (Barts) decision not to permit Tafida’s parents to transfer her to Gaslini Children’s Hospital (GCH) in Genoa, Italy. Barts requested that a judge declare that the proposed transfer was not in Tafida’s best interests. In the High Court, MacDonald J’s ruling on the judicial review element of the case was that Barts had not acted unlawfully. In the best interests determination, MacDonald J deemed that continued treatment was in Tafida’s best interests, hence Tafida’s parents would be permitted to transfer her to GCH. Although medical views of best interests tend to prevail in these types of cases, the Raqeeb case, like other previous cases where judges have found in favour of parents, demonstrates that the best interests test is not designed to override the wishes of parents, as its detractors allege, but is flexible enough to allow judges to weigh competing factors in making a determination. In the Raqeeb case, in the absence of clear evidence regarding pain and suffering, subjective factors were accorded more weight within the balancing exercise. I argue that the best interests test should be retained and that a reform affording parents a ‘right to try’ should not be adopted, as this may prolong the pain and suffering of some infants. Nonetheless, the Raqeeb case demonstrates the lack of dialogue between parents and clinicians, in some cases. It therefore bolsters the argument that mediation should be offered in these types of cases.

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Can 'Medical Futility' Conflicts be Mediated?

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Navigating conflict: The role of mediation in healthcare disputes

Navigating conflict: The role of mediation in healthcare disputes

Sleep softly: Schubert, ethics and the value of dying well

Tafida Raqeeb v. Barts NHS Foundation Trust and Others [2019]: Bolstering the argument for mediation

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