In a population based project aimed at identifying children with specified disabilities within a health region, there was, rightly, concern about the transfer of data on named children across health district boundaries. Two methods of obtaining parental consent for this process were tested. High recruitment rates were achieved using an 'opting out' approach.

It is suggested that the practice of attempting to normalise children with Down's syndrome by subjecting them to major facial plastic surgery has no therapeutic benefit, and should be seen as multilating surgery comparable to female circumcision.

The statement on informed consent, parental permission, and patient assent has a long and extraordinary history. The first draft of this document, prepared by William G. Bartholome, MD, was presented to the original American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Bioethics in 1985. Bill put his soul into the manuscript and has watched over it carefully ever since. Now, a decade later, those w...

BACKGROUND An increasing array of rare inherited conditions can be detected as part of the universal newborn screening programme. The introduction and evaluation of these service developments require consideration of the ethical issues involved and appropriate mechanisms for informing parents and gaining consent if required. Exploration of parental views is needed to inform the debate and speci...

OBJECTIVE Passive, opt-out recruitment strategies have the potential to improve efficiency and enlarge the participant pool for clinical studies. We report on the feasibility of using a passive consent strategy for a multicenter pediatric study. METHODS We assessed the response to passive and active control recruitment strategies used in a multicenter pediatric cohort study and describe the v...

Children’s privacy has become critical with the increasing use of the Internet for commercial purposes and corresponding increase in requests for information. 65% of children between the ages of 10 and 13 use the Internet for casual web surfing, chatting, games, schoolwork, e-mail, interactive learning, and other applications. Often, websites hosting these activities ask for personal informatio...

This paper briefly reviews highlights from decades of debates in medicine, law, bioethics, psychology and social research about children’s and parents’ views and consent to medical treatment and research. There appears to have been a rise and later a fall in respect for children’s views, illustrated among many examples by a recent book on the zone of parental discretion, which is reviewed. A re...

Research into adolescent health issues is hampered by absolute requirements for parental consent. Society's recognition of adolescents' autonomy and decision-making capacity has been embodied in the legal recognition of the mature minor's right to make decisions on matters affecting his or her life. Psychological research indicates that young people from 14 years have decision-making capacity. ...