Baines Paul
Bioethics. 2017 Oct;31(8):599-607. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12376.
Medical decisions for children are usually justified by the claim that they are in a child's best interests. More recently, following criticisms of the best interests standard, some advocate that the family's interests should influence medical decisions for children, although what is meant by family interests is often not made clear. I argue that at least two senses of family interests may be discerned. There is a 'weak' sense (as the amalgamated interests of family members) of family interests and a 'strong' sense (that the family itself has interests over and above the interests of individuals). I contend that there are problems with both approaches in making medical decisions for children but that the weak sense is more plausible. Despite this, I argue that claims for family interests are not helpful in making medical decisions for children.
为儿童做出的医疗决策通常以符合儿童的最佳利益为由。最近，在对最佳利益标准提出批评之后，一些人主张家庭利益应影响为儿童做出的医疗决策，尽管家庭利益的具体含义往往并不明确。我认为，至少可以辨别出家庭利益的两种含义。有一种“弱”含义（作为家庭成员利益的总和）的家庭利益，以及一种“强”含义（即家庭本身具有超越个体利益的利益）。我认为，在为儿童做出医疗决策时，这两种方法都存在问题，但弱含义更具合理性。尽管如此，我认为主张家庭利益对于为儿童做出医疗决策并无帮助。
