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Legal Considerations of Patient Refusals of Treatment Against Medical Advice

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Against‐Medical‐Advice Discharges from the Hospital

Abstract

Patients who refuse medical treatment that appears to be necessary and in their best interests pose a vexing medical, ethical, and legal challenge. Adults in the USA have the legal right to refuse treatment, including life-sustaining medical treatment. Central to the ability to exercise that right is their possession of the capacity to make the decision to accept or refuse medical treatment which may require careful assessment. A written form that documents the patient’s refusal of treatment against medical advice (“AMA” form) may be useful for evidentiary reasons, though the forms by themselves may not confer legal protection from liability. Parents who refuse treatment that is in their child’s best interest may be overridden by state and federal laws. The rights of adolescents to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment vary depending upon the maturity of the adolescent and state law.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Institute for Health and Equity, and Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Arthur R. Derse

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  1. Arthur R. Derse
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Correspondence to Arthur R. Derse .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. VHA National Center for Ethics in Health Care, Department of Veterans Affairs, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

    David Alfandre

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Derse, A.R. (2018). Legal Considerations of Patient Refusals of Treatment Against Medical Advice. In: Alfandre, D. (eds) Against‐Medical‐Advice Discharges from the Hospital. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75130-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75130-6_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75129-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75130-6

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