Citation

Atl. Report. 1999; 735: 448-467.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, West Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11648639

Abstract

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision that had issued a do-not-resuscitate order over the objection of an infant's biological mother. The Court of Appeals agreed that the trial court had jurisdiction to enter a DNR order for an adjudicated neglected child. The infant was "neurologically devastated," although able to feel pain. While a parent has a fundamental liberty interest in her child, this interest is outweighed by the "best interests of the child." The Court held the substituted judgment standard to be inapplicable to cases involving infants.

Language: en