‘When no means no’ – adolescent right to refuse an elective surgical procedure: A case study

Abstract

At law, adults are presumed to have legal competency to provide consent for or refusal to consent to health care treatments unless they have cognitive impairment. But what of the adolescent who is, at law, a child but who refuses to undergo elective surgical treatment? This paper discusses the issues surrounding the case of Keith, a 14-year-old boy with ulcerative colitis, who refuses consent to undergo an elective ileostomy.