| Parental refusal of treatment for leukaemia - When courts decide -- Lynn Gillam, Sharon Feldman, Maria McCarthy, Monica Cooper & Dianne Hanna |
01 May 2024, 12:30 PM
to
1:30 PM
Venue: Hybrid: Ella Latham Auditorium and online
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Synopsis
Olivia is a 14-year-old girl from
rural NSW who was diagnosed with Pre B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
(ALL). The treatment is long and arduous, but if treated immediately
has a 90 percent survival rate. Without treatment she will die within four
weeks. Olivia has other conditions including epileptic encephalopathy (DEE), a
severe intellectual disability, global developmental delay, communication
difficulties, drug-resistant seizures and behavioural difficulties. The cancer
therapy would require Olivia to have over 50 general anaesthetics as she won’t
accept treatment without being restrained.
Olivia’s mother does not want the
cancer treated. She prefers that her daughter receive palliative care and be
allowed to die at home, avoiding the pain and suffering of
chemotherapy. Unable to reach consensus, the hospital brought the case to
the NSW Supreme Court last month seeking orders to authorise treatment.
The Children’s Bioethics Centre
(CBC) invite you to join them for a thought-provoking panel ethical discussion.
The session will be facilitated by Academic Director of the CBC, Professor Lynn
Gillam, who will be joined by Clinical Ethicist Sharon Feldman, and RCH
clinicians Associate Professor Maria McCarthy, Dr Monica Cooper and Dr Diane
Hanna. We will work through some of the ethical issues surrounding this case,
and invite comments from the audience.
Speakers
Professor Lynn Gillam is a clinical ethicist at the Children’s Bioethics Centre, RCH and
Professor of Health Ethics in the Department of Paediatrics, University of
Melbourne.
Sharon Feldman is a clinical ethicist at the Children’s Bioethics Centre, as well
as at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Austin Health. Previously, Sharon
worked as a healthcare lawyer, before completing a master’s degree in bioethics
at Columbia University and a two-year clinical ethics fellowship at the
Cleveland Clinic. She is also pursuing a PhD on the practice of clinical
ethics.
Associate Professor Maria McCarthy is a Senior
Mental Health Clinician in the RCH Children's Cancer Centre and a Principal
Research Fellow with the MCRI.
Dr Monica Cooper is a Consultant General Paediatrician working in the Department of
Neurodevelopment and Disability and for the Complex Care Service at The Royal
Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Monica works with medically fragile children
and with children who have physical and intellectual disabilities.
Dr Dianne Hanna is a paediatric oncologist, haematopoietic stem cell transplant
physician and post-doctoral researcher. She is the deputy director of the
clinical trials unit within the Children’s Cancer Centre (CCC), chair of the
Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS) statewide leukaemia MDMs and member
of the Australia and New Zealand Children’s Oncology Group (ANZCHOG)
Leukaemia/Lymphoma Committee.
Presented in the Ella Latham Auditorium, The Royal Children’s
Hospital and online by zoom webinar:
Click to join
Access for
people with disability: The Ella Latham Auditorium is accessible for
people using wheelchairs. If you have any other accessibility requirements in
order to participate fully, please let us know, and the Grand Rounds
coordinator will contact you.
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