Case of Kevin Sampson[1]:
Surgery for Neurofibromatosis
Kevin Sampson is a 15-year-old boy with neurofibromatosis
(also known as “elephant man’s disease”) which manifested as a large, bag-like
benign growth causing one side of his face to be twice as large as the
other. Kevin had fallen severely behind
in school and functionally illiterate, in part because he had left school at an
early age, finding the taunting of his classmates to be unbearable. Kevin’s mother refused to consent to the
surgical excision of his growth not based on the operation itself, but the high
likelihood that Kevin would need blood products during the surgery, which her
Jehovah’s Witness faith did not permit.
Kevin’s
neurofibromatosis is not fatal and only causes mild to moderate clinical
problems (head aches, balance problems).
However, his physicians are more worried about the relational and
emotional (and indirectly, intellectual) issues caused by the growth. Removal and reconstructive surgery carries a
95% success rate of both removing the growth and restoring a normal appearance
(with a small scar). However, there is a small but significant risk of
complications from anesthesia (5% chance of a fatal reaction). There are no alternative treatments for the
physicians to consider.
When asked,
Kevin states that he is desperate to have the growth to be removed. He is tired of being ridiculed and shunned.
Should the state
intervene and compel surgical removal of Kevin’s growth?
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