Department of Emergency Medicine

UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Emancipation

Category: Airway Management

Posted: 5/27/2010 by Rose Chasm, MD (Updated: 11/22/2024)
Click here to contact Rose Chasm, MD

  • in the US, the right of an adolescent (<18yrs) to seek and receive treatment without parental consent varies from state to state.
  • usually, the right to self-consent for treatment is specified through public health statutes when there is clinical suspicion of a STD
  • many states allow minors to seek help for pregnancy, contraception, substance abuse, and mental health issues without parental consent

 

some absolutes or almost always cases include the following:

  1. emancipated minors: moved outside of the home and support themselves financially, married, in the military, or has a child
  2. emergencies: patient is unconscious or unable to give consent
  3. mature-minor: possess the ability to comprehend the risks and benefits of treatment/therapy

References

MedStudy Pediatrics Board Review Core Curriculum, 1st ed.


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