Adolescent’s Right to Die
I am a nurse taking care of a young man. His name is Mike and he has acute myelocytic leukemia. He was diagnosed with this type of cancer at the age of seven. Radiation and chemotherapy was successful allowing him to remain in remission until he was thirteen years old. He then received the radiation and chemotherapy again, however it did not work as well for Mike this time. One year later at the age of fourteen, it was necessary for him to undergo a bone marrow transplant. Ever since the transplant, he has had to receive monthly IVIG and blood transfusions. He has been admitted to the hospital several times due to fevers and neutropenia over the course of the last year. Now at the age of fifteen, it has been decided by his parents and physician that it is necessary to start on a third round of intense chemotherapy. It is believed that it may be necessary to perform another bone marrow transplant. Mike’s parents have made it very clear to the staff that we do everything within our abilities to treat Mike’s cancer.
I have come to initiate the chemotherapy regimen for Mike. As I talk with him about the chemotherapy that I am going to administer, he tells me that he does not want to undergo any more treatments. I discuss with him the details of his disease, what the chemotherapy will do for him, and reinforce that without the treatment, he will die. He understands all of this and still holds to the decision that he does not want it. It is clear that Mike is very tired of all he has been through and that he has made up his mind. I do not administer the chemotherapy agents at this time and allow him to rest while I go out to talk with his parents. After informing them of the conversation I had with their son, they tell me that he is not able to make that decision for himself being he is a child. His parents insist I return to initiate the chemotherapy treatment. I now have a decision to make. Do I do as his parents...