feature
A Duty to Report,
a Chance to Protect
Suspicions of child
abuse or neglect
trigger a fundamental
professional obligation
By Stuart Foxman
photo: MASTERFILE
C
ertainty isn’t always a
luxury in the practice
of medicine. So consider a few questions. If
you’re unsure of a case, yet have suspicions, how strong must they be to
have them probed further? When
would you consult other experts?
Would you just assume it’s nothing
and let the matter go? What is your
duty?
Here’s one variable to weigh,
which might help you answer.
What if the suspected condition
was so common that it affected perhaps one-third of children? Would
that make you more likely or less
likely to ensure the case received
continued exploration?
In 2014, the Canadian Medical
Association Journal reported that
32% of Canadians had experienced
some type of child abuse. That includes physical abuse, sexual abuse
or exposure to intimate partner
violence. Abuse and other forms
of neglect are an enormous health
hazard for children – and also represent a duty to report for doctors
when there are reasonable grounds
to suspect it.
That duty means informing a
Issue 3, 2015 Dialogue
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