The Final Decision: Should Medical Advice Trump Parental Rights?

Ideally, the question, should medical advice trump parental rights, is answered in the affirmative. At the same time, the use of the word trump might concern some parents or others, particularly if they feel that trump is not the most appropriate word to use. This can happen when the word trump appears heavy-handed or offensive to them.

Medical advice should take precedence over parental rights when the life of a child is at stake. A qualified medical professional offers sound advice, directed toward healing, health and wholeness. It is also life-oriented. The doctor will be knowledgeable, skilled and trained from a medical perspective. He or she will be able to direct parents to someone who has a higher level of expertise, if necessary. In many life-threatening situations, patients must take their child or children to see other professional medical consultants in order to receive the correct medical care, medications or treatments.     

Medical advice is something that every parent has to seek for his or her children, at one time or another. No doctor has the answer for every possible, medical problem. At times, there are no easy answers for medical problems that concern children and they need to see pediatricians or other child care specialists. While no parent has to accept all of the medical advice given by any particular doctor, it is generally wiser to allow medical advice from qualified medical professionals to take precedence over parental rights.

It is important to encourage parents to find family doctors who they trust with the health care of their children. This becomes even more important at critical times in their children’s lives. Having children’s medical records with one doctor, if possible, is vital in case of an emergency, as this can save time, as well as the lives of the children in question.   

Parents love their children and want what is best for them, so do doctors and other medical professionals. Parents who choose to work together as a team, along with qualified medical professionals, in terms of the care of their children, are much more likely to achieve success, than those who do not..

Parents need to receive current medical information from medical professionals, particularly in our era, which is one in which almost anyone can obtain data from the Internet. Finding other sources of medical information than those offered by professional medical people is always a possibility, as information changes daily. Ideally, parents should consult their children’s doctors about this kind of information, if that happens.

With regard to children, the final decision about accepting medical advice is in the hands of the parents. There are times when doctors have to make a decision, particularly if they cannot reach the parents. 

Sometimes, when parental decisions are questionable from a medical perspective and court decisions are necessary. Intervention with appropriate emergency medical measures may save the life of a child. .     

Here is another thought for parents to consider, with regard to the use of the word trump. Trump can also suggest outrank. In other words, the advice given and decision made by medical professionals is superior, wiser or more appropriate in terms of saving the life of a child. Within this context, medical advice should trump parental rights.