Do you have to tell a minor he or she has cancer? Is there an age under 18 were the parents are obligated by law to tell them? I I'd it very messed up that parents seem to be allowed to hide that untill the person is 18. Can anyone correct my understanding please?Wednesday, December 7, 2011
What Is The Law On Telling You're Kid They Have Cancer!?
Do you have to tell a minor he or she has cancer? Is there an age under 18 were the parents are obligated by law to tell them? I I'd it very messed up that parents seem to be allowed to hide that untill the person is 18. Can anyone correct my understanding please?
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Eric - I'm pretty sure any sane judge would rule that concealing such information is negligence. It would make a really good story, though.
ReplyDeletemalcolmx - I would think that their own doctor would tell them you have cancer or stage one carcinoma...Its really up to the parents but I would think that they would tell the person so that they can live a normal life everyday and not hold back. I dont believe there is any law. A child will either understand and be strong, especially if they believe in God, or they will be distraught but the parents have to be there to support them.
ReplyDeleteDenisedds - Parents don’t have to tell their kids a thing if they don’t want to. There is no law requiring them to.
ReplyDeleteIt would be pretty difficult treating a kid for cancer without them knowing about it unless they are very young.
Besides the doctor would tell them.
TrueSnapdragon - There is no law about telling a child they have cancer. In theory, parents have the right to decide if they want to tell the child or not.
ReplyDeleteIn practice, most pediatric oncologists will not let parents hide a diagnosis from a child. Very young children may not know, but even at age 3, kids can understand the basics of a diagnosis.
I do run into parents who do not want to tell their child, and it is always resolved in the end. Explanations are given to the parents about why kids need to know. We always tell parents that our policy is honesty, and we will always give developmentally appropriate information and use real terms. Our belief is that kids who understand will be more cooperative and have less anxiety. We explain to parents that children who don't know actually do know that something is going on, and kids tend to think the worse, so the anxiety of not knowing is often worse than the anxiety that comes with the word cancer. Some parents need a couple of days to come around, but in my experience, they all do. I know someday we might run into a parent who doesn't come around, but so far, I have yet to meet one of a child over the age of 4.
We do allow parents to decide how and when to tell the children, as well as who should tell. More often than not, parents want a team approach, and it's myself (child life specialist), the social worker, and sometimes a doctor, with the parents. We always use correct terms (cancer, leukemia, neuroblastoma, etc.) and explain in a developmentally appropriate way.
When it comes to teens, even if the parent refused to tell, our oncologists would. While we require consent to be signed by parents, we also require assent to be signed by kids over a certain age (somewhere around 15 or 16.) Teens are present for discussions from the beginning and are told everything in our center.