Abstract

KIE: Hospital ethics committees are advocated as the best available alternative to review nontreatment decisions for seriously ill newborns. Other options entail such problems as an inability of physicians and parents to be dispassionate decision makers, the intrusive and inefficient nature of government response, and the disruption of hospital unit operation. Ethics committee functions could include policy development and prospective and retrospective review of treatment decisions. "Infant Doe" cases could be handled in three stages: confirmation of diagnosis, mediation between parents and physicians, and reaching an ethical judgment on the morality of a decision. Committees should consider "grey area" cases in accord with a "best-interest-of-the-infant" standard. An insert to the article provides the text of a proposal for ethics committees prepared by the American Academy of Pediatrics.