Phil 1030-001
Mini-paper
© Virginia Caldwell September 9, 2005
| If parents trust their doctor enough to put their infant in his care, why would they not allow him to make decisions based on their infant’s well being? It is said that parents know what is best for their child. Is that true in all circumstances dealing with matters of health and medicine? | |
| Doctors go through years of school and training to learn how to treat patients. They have knowledge on what is wrong with the infant, and knowledge on what is best to treat the ailment. The doctor can tell the infant’s parents what they will easily understand, but they will never be able to fully comprehend the situation. They will not know the best treatment because they were not trained to make medical decisions.
Parents may think they know what is best for their infant simply because they are its parents; they have an emotional attachment unlike the doctor. While emotional attachment is a healthy thing, it may interfere with the best decision for the infant’s well being. Every parent wants to see their newborn healthy, but what if the baby has a heart problem and needs immediate surgery? The parents may not know the extent of the problem, and not allow the doctor to operate simply because they do not want their baby put under the knife. The baby would then die from heart difficulties because the doctor was unable to treat the infant. The parent’s emotional attachment made them act on their best interest instead of the infant’s best interest and well being. Therefore, since the parents act on their emotional attachment to the infant while the doctor is trained to properly treat the infant, the doctor should be responsible for treatment decisions of the infant. | |