Ashley Treatment
Ashley is a patient who suffers from "static encephalopathy", a severe brain impairment; that prevents her from developing past the mental age of a three-month-old baby. Her parents requested a controversial treatment to prevent Ashley... [more]
Ashley is a patient who suffers from "static encephalopathy", a severe brain impairment; that prevents her from developing past the mental age of a three-month-old baby. Her parents requested a controversial treatment to prevent Ashley from physically growing into an adult body. The treatment has been extremely controversial among medical professionals as well as bloggers and the general public.
Ethicist Douglas S. Diekema defends the Ashley Treatment
A story Ashley X and her parents' decision to subject her to
high-dose estrogen, a prophylactic hysterectomy, and breast tissue
reduction surgery was first written about in
the Los Angles Times on Jan. 2. This week many bloggers have chimed in with their opinions.
But experts at the Seattle Children's hospital reviewed, and ultimately approved, this case. The
so-called "Ashley treatment" was described by pediatric endocrinologist
Daniel F. Gunther, M.D., M.A., and ethicist Douglas S. Diekema, M.D.,
M.P.H., both of the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in
Seattle, in the October issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
These guys put their professional reputations on the line.
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