Recently in health care, Dr. Smith has noticed a large increase of infants suffering from pertussis (whooping cough) which is a highly contagious disease that could be fatal if left untreated. All babies in New Zealand can be immunized against whooping cough as part of their free childhood immunizations and Dr. Smith highly recommends that all her patients to have them done as soon as possible. Dr. Smith has noticed from previous years when there has been an outbreak that many children suffer pertussis as a result of not being immunized.
A one year old infant comes in for an examination. The medical record shows the baby has not received any immunizations at all. After announcing her concern about it to the mother, it becomes obvious that the mother is opposed to vaccinations and is resistant to any effort by Dr. Smith to educate her regarding the importance of vaccinating her baby. Dr. Smith becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the situation and wonders whether she should dismiss this family from her practice given the mothers continued refusal to consent to immunization for her child. Dr. Smith becomes very worried as an outbreak could possibly endanger their lives as well as other patients that visit the clinic.
References
Downie, J., Halperin, B., Macdibakd, N., & Melnychuk, R. (2007). When is it permissible to dismiss a family who refuses vaccines? Paediatr Child Health, 12(10), 843-845. Retrieved from
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043497 Ministry of Health. (2014). Whooping cough. Retrieved from
https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/conditions-and-treatments/diseases-and-illnesses/whooping-... It is proposed that Dr. Smith accepts the refusal and continues to treat the mother and her baby despite feeling uncomfortable about it.