PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - P Baines
TI  - Medical ethics for children: applying the four principles to paediatrics
AID  - 10.1136/jme.2006.018747
DP  - 2008 Mar 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 141--145
VI  - 34
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/34/3/141.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/34/3/141.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2008 Mar 01; 34
AB  - I will argue that there are difficulties with the application of the four principles approach to incompetent children. The most important principle – respect for autonomy – is not directly applicable to incompetent children and the most appropriate modification of the principle for them is not clear. The principle of beneficence – that one should act in the child’s interests – is complicated by difficulties in assessing what a child’s interests are and to which standard of interests those choosing for children should be held. A further problem with the four principles approach is that parental authority does not follow clearly from the four principles.