Medical Treatment of a Child – A Child’s Consent – The average person in America may find it hard to believe that minors can consent to their own medical treatment, and for the most part, they are right. There are established rules in place regarding medical treatment of a child, and that decision is typically left up to the child’s parents or legal guardians.
But the door is always left open to extenuating circumstances.
According to the Texas Family Code, a child/minor can consent to their own medical treatment if:
- The child is on active duty with the U.S. military.
- The child is at least 16, does not live with a legal guardian, and manages his/her own financial affairs.
- The child is a foster child who is at least 16 and has been given court approval to consent to treatment.
- The child consents to the diagnosis and treatment of an infectious, contagious or communicable disease.
- The child is unmarried and pregnant.
- The child has a drug or chemical addiction or dependency.
- The child is serving a term of confinement within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
- The child gets court approval to consent to an abortion and to bypass parental consent.
A minor can also consent to psychological treatment, so long as at least one of the same circumstances above applies, and can consent to counseling services for suicide prevention, chemical addiction or dependency, and sexual or emotional abuse.
A minor who is 16 or older can voluntarily admit themselves to an impatient mental-health facility or request outpatient mental-health services. They can also give written consent for immunizations if the minor is pregnant or is the parent of a child and has custody of that child, or the minor has been referred by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This blog was meant to provide a general overview. If you have any further questions on this topic, please contact a team member at Nelson Law Group, PC.
Thanks for reading.
