Władza rodzicielska i dobro dziecka w dyskursie leczenia zgodnego z przekonaniami religijnymi

In this article, the case of a child whose life depended on parents’ decision made in compliance with religious beliefs will be presented. The child’s health was life-threatening, and an immediate procedure for transfusion of blood and application of hematopoietic products was required. The parents being aware of the immediate threat to their child’s life and the fact that she could die demanded that the physicians discontinue the treatment of internal bleeding in accordance with the current medical knowledge. The welfare of a child should be put above the religious values of his/her parents. When it is necessary for a physician to undertake urgent medically justified medical procedures, when a delay caused by the procedure for obtaining consent would pose a threat to patient’s life, serious injury or serious health impairment, the physician may proceed without the consent of the patient’s statutory representative or substitute consent of the competent guardianship court. A physician has no obligation to wait for substitute consent of a guardianship court also in a situation where he/she is obliged by it to search for alternative methods of treatment, which, in the light of current medical knowledge, are not included in the category of methods and ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases available for the physician.