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Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Along with the right to adequate and appropriate healthcare, competent adult patients have the right to refuse health care (it is wise to document that the patient clearly understands the risks and benefits of their decision), but exceptions do occur.

• Patients with an altered mental status because of alcohol, drugs, brain injury, or medical or psychiatric illness may not be able to make a competent decision; then the patient may need to have a person legally appointed to make medical decisions.
• Although laws have established the right of an adult to refuse life-sustaining treatment, they do not allow parents or guardians to deny children necessary medical care.
• In the case of Prince v. Massachusetts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled: "The right to practice religion freely does not include the liberty to expose the community or child to communicable disease, or the latter to ill health or death. Parents may be free to become martyrs themselves. But it does not follow they are free, in identical circumstances, to make martyrs of their children before they have reached the age of full and legal discretion." Legal advice and Child Protective Services should be sought and informed about these occurrences to avoid counter charges of assault and battery by the parents or child.

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