Ethical principles in the practice of medicine

Abstract

In approaching children with cancer and their caregivers, healthcare practitioners face numerous scenarios in which those involved in a child’s care come into conflict. When and how should a diagnosis of cancer be revealed to adolescents and their families and should adolescents be free to deny their parents this knowledge at certain levels of capacity? Who should have the say regarding the distribution of scarce resources? To what extent should healthcare practitioners accommodate traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines within their treatment plans?.