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Open research questions in Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare

93 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,204 Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Further refinement of the 2023 amendments, - Raising awareness among society about advanced medical directives, or living wills, - Keeping up with the pace of legal decisions with advancing technology and AI

    Hidden barriers and ground reality in implementing Supreme Court of India directives to withdraw/withhold life-sustaining medical treatment · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of ascertaining family preferences. It highlights the potential for family members to overstate the extent to which their incapacitous relative has expressed a preference to keep them happy. It discusses the challenge of balancing the consideration of family preferences with the need to prioritize the patient's best interest.

    Best interest and family compromise · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the consideration of family preferences in best interest decisions. It highlights the need to explore the implications of this approach in less extreme cases.

    Best interest and family compromise · 2026 · DOI

  • It asks whether these new mechanisms have achieved what was wanted from them and concludes that, although incremental improvements are warranted, they serve an important function and ought to be allowed to continue to mature.

    Challenging Parole Decisions in England and Wales: Reconsideration and Set Aside · 2025 · DOI

  • Medical information should be shared with parents and parental perspectives and priorities in relation to this information should be explored and integrated into the decision-making process.

    A rapid review of periviable (22 + 0 to 23 + 6 weeks) counselling practices and the need for a trauma-informed care approach · 2025 · DOI

  • A counselor who accepts abortion provisionally could explore the situation with Janice to deter- mine if referral to another counselor who can be more objective is warranted.

    Ethical Concerns in School Counseling · 1986 · DOI

  • A key strength of this study is its focus on both parental and child perspectives, providing a nuanced understanding of how families engage in and prefer to engage in health communication. The qualitative approach allowed for in-depth exploration of experiences, highlighting specic areas where communication practices can be improved. The staged approach of asking parents in a survey the same questions and topics that would form the basis of the child interviews likely provided reassurance to parents who were nervous about their child participating in research. Several limitations should be noted. The sample was self-selected, which may have introduced selection bias, as participants with strong views on health communication may have been more likely to participate. Additionally, although a diverse range of geographic locations across NZ and ethnic backgrounds were represented, the study will not fully capture the experiences of children with disabilities or those from non-English speaking backgrounds, warranting further investigation. Because of the nature of the parent survey, in-depth probing was not possible, and the results presented are only a snapshot of children and their parents’ experiences and not a detailed, nuanced understanding.

    Communicating health messages to children and families in primary care: a mixed-methods study in Aotearoa New Zealand · 2026 · DOI

  • The absence of a universally accepted definition of medical futility. The variability in the interpretation and application of medical futility in clinical practice.

    Clinical and Ethical Approaches to Medical Futility in End-of-Life Care: A Scoping Review · 2026 · DOI

  • Using illustrative cases, we highlight salient themes surrounding these challenges that span many tenets of pediatric bioethics, including beneficence (ie, weighing benefits against harms), imposing values to impact shared decision-making, and justice (ie, lack of standardization in processes creating risk for discrimination).

    Ethical Considerations When Referring Patients for a Higher Level of Care · 2026 · DOI

  • The complexity of the concept of 'safety', - The need to critically examine the constitution of 'safety' as a policy objective, - The challenge of developing alternative imaginations for 'safer' drug policies

    Making ‘Safety’ for Children and Young People in Drug Policy: A Critical Analysis of Governing Logics · 2026 · DOI

  • The meaning and effects of 'safety' are rarely interrogated, - There is a lack of critical examination of how 'safety' is constituted as a policy objective

    Making ‘Safety’ for Children and Young People in Drug Policy: A Critical Analysis of Governing Logics · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of epistemic lenses in bioethics to conceptualize bioethical problems as consequences of power asymmetries - The need for a new field of research to address the challenges in bioethics

    Subdividing bioethics · 2026 · DOI

  • Many hospitals were able to constitute a primary board, but the formation of a secondary board was a challenge. Till date, only few hospitals have effectively implemented EOLC directives.

    Hidden barriers and ground reality in implementing Supreme Court of India directives to withdraw/withhold life-sustaining medical treatment · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should investigate the implementation of the 'just-in-time consent' approach in clinical practice. Future research should examine the impact of this approach on patient outcomes and experiences.

    Rethinking the Burden of Traditional Informed Consent Prior to Prenatal Genetic Screening · 2025 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the current approach to informed consent, which is not feasible in many resource-limited contexts. The paper identifies a gap in the support provided to patients and families who receive screen-positive results.

    Rethinking the Burden of Traditional Informed Consent Prior to Prenatal Genetic Screening · 2025 · DOI

  • There is a gap in understanding how principles such as autonomy, consent, and justice can be applied in practice, particularly in complex and uncertain contexts. There is a need for more nuanced understanding of the complexities of relationships, context, and uncertainty in medical ethics. The paper identifies a gap in the recognition of the importance of institutional and cultural pressures in shaping medical ethics.

    Uncertain medicine: consent, culture and the limits of principles · 2025 · DOI

  • The need for a revised guiding framework for early childhood research. The importance of addressing current global issues in early childhood research. The need for promoting high ethical standards in early childhood research.

    EECERA ethical code for early childhood researchers · 2024 · DOI

  • Further study on the development of emotional bonds between infants and caregivers - Examination of the long-term effects of separating infants from gestational carriers

    Moral parenthood: not gestational · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the justification of the acquisition of a moral right to parent biological children. The paper argues that the Gestationalist View is unconvincing, and that alternative justifications are needed.

    Moral parenthood: not gestational · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the challenge of balancing patient autonomy with the need to protect patients from harm. It highlights the difficulty of assessing decisional capacity in cases involving patients with complex or rare conditions. The paper notes the challenge of navigating the complexities of patient beliefs and values in medical decision-making.

    Wish to die trying to live: unwise or incapacitous? The case of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust versus ‘ST’ · 2024 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the current approach to assessing decisional capacity, which can lead to patients being deemed to lack capacity due to their beliefs rather than their ability to make decisions. The gap is particularly significant in cases involving patients with rare or complex conditions. The paper argues that this gap needs to be addressed to ensure that patients' autonomy is respected.

    Wish to die trying to live: unwise or incapacitous? The case of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust versus ‘ST’ · 2024 · DOI

  • The complexity of the legal and ethical framework in medicine. The need for doctors to understand the legal and ethical framework within which they work. The importance of recognizing patients' autonomy in medical law.

    Law and ethics in medicine · 2020 · DOI

  • There is a need for a better understanding of the complex interplay between law, ethics, and medicine. The importance of patients' autonomy in medical law is not always recognized.

    Law and ethics in medicine · 2020 · DOI

  • Future research could explore the role of empathy and understanding in medical practice. Future research could investigate the limitations of reducing complex medical issues to simple answers.

    Trivial Medicine · 2015 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap between medical knowledge and the complexities of patients' experiences. The paper highlights the need for empathy and understanding in medical practice.

    Trivial Medicine · 2015 · DOI

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93 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,204 Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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