Volume 73 Number 3 May 2006	back to contents

From the Division of Adolescent Medicine / Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Medical Center, NY.

Address all correspondence to Angela Diaz, M.D., Director, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, 320 East 94th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10128.

Presented at the Mount Sinai Medical Conference on Pediatric Ethics, at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, on January 30, 2004, and updated as of May 2005.

Abstract

Providers of health care to adolescent patients face numerous challenges. In addition to increased risk for many health problems, adolescent patients may bring complex ethical, legal and developmental questions to bear as they seek medical services. This article describes the case of one such adolescent patient and discusses some of the attendant issues faced by her physician. For example, providing reproductive health care to teenage patients without the knowledge of parents or guardians requires familiarity on the part of providers with relevant state and federal law. A dditionally, providers must be aware of financial barriers and they need to acquaint themselves with available services such as New York State's Family Planning Benefit Program. Attention to their patients' stages of cognitive and emotional development should inform providers' advice to adolescents, and an understanding of the importance that supportive adult relationships play during adolescence is essential to fostering healthy development. Open communication between adolescent patients and their parents or guardians should be encouraged, while maintaining the primary obligation of providing confidential care.

Key Words

Adolescent health, confidentiality, health insurance, cognitive development, ethics.

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