The C. Everett Koop Papers

Title:

"Guidelines Applicable to Health Care and Child Protective Services for Infants with Life-Threatening Congenital Impairments Pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act" (draft)

Description:

In response to the "Baby Doe" controversy triggered by the deliberate withholding of medical treatment from a severely disabled newborn in an Indiana hospital, and his resulting death, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed new guidelines for health care providers in order to prevent further deaths of this kind. The guidelines, which went through several revisions, were controversial among department officials because they limited the professional autonomy of physicians to make decisions about treatment. They were eventually struck down by the courts for the same reason. As a long-time surgeon but also a firm believer in the medical rights of disabled newborns, Koop supported the guidelines only reluctantly, fearing at the same time that they intruded too far into the relationship between physicians and parents and lacked the moral authority of law. For Koop, resolving the controversy over the rights of physicians and parents to determine the fate of disabled newborns required that physicians undergo continuing medical education in the latest surgical techniques to correct birth defects. Above all, it required ongoing moral self-examination among health care providers, which Koop considered too often missing in contemporary medicine.

NOTE: In the original document, page 4 is repeated, once with handwritten notes, and once without.

Item is a photocopy.

Number of Image Pages:

12 (779,373 Bytes)

Date Supplied:

November 1982

Creator:

United States Department of Health and Human Services

Rights:

This item is in the public domain. It may be used without permission.

Subject:

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH):: Disabled Children; Ethics, Medical; Refusal to Treat

Exhibit Category:

Congenital Birth Defects and the Medical Rights of Children: The "Baby Doe" Controversy

Relation:

Memorandum from John A. Casciotti, United States Department of Health and Human Services to C. Everett Koop [on proposed "Infant Doe" guidelines] (November 15, 1982)

Memorandum from Juan A. del Real to the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services [on proposed "Infant Doe" guidelines] (draft) [November 1982]

Notice to Health Care Providers [on] Discriminating against the Handicapped by Withholding Treatment or Nourishment (May 18, 1982)

Box Number: 19